The World Of Bishonen
by God of Darkness
Summary: And yet another installment of Songwind's incrediable world. Please review. WARNING: Rating may go up.(On indefinite hold. See bio for details.)
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own any anime, games, movies, or books, nor do I own the world that this fanfic takes place in. I have no money, so suing me is a bad idea. This fic is written for enjoyment reasons only, not profit.  
  
Author's notes: Right. This fic will not be, on Fanfiction.net anyway, an interactive fic. If you wish to have a character in this fic, go to mediaminer.org, and submit it there. If any characters are submitted to me to use on Fanfiction.net, they will not be used. I apologize for any inconvenience. Also, the author's comments at the end of every chapter may sound weird. If they do, they are written for when I posted on mediaminer.org, and I was just too lazy to correct if for Fanfiction.net.  
  
Prologue: New world, better than old.  
  
The computer shop was empty, with the exception of the single employee who had the boring job of closing in an hour. At the moment, he was sitting in a chair behind the counter, playing solitaire on the computer he could use.  
The bell's hanging from the door jingled, and the man looked up to see who had entered.  
A young man walked over to the computer's open for use. After dropping the correct amount of money into the computer, it started, and he waited for it to boot up.  
The man behind the counter returned to solitaire, putting the new entrant out of his mind. For several minutes, nothing happened.  
CRASH!  
The man's head shot up, and he rushed into the storage area of the computer shop. What he found caused him to curse creatively. It seemed that a monitor hadn't been totally stable on the shelf, and had eventually slipped and fallen. The monitor now lay in pieces, clearly unsalvageable.  
The man turned and left the storage room in search of a broom, his mind fixed on how much that monitor cost, and how much of it would come from his paycheck.  
The man didn't even notice that the computer that the young man had been using was now off, and that the young man was gone.  
Indeed, the man had totally forgotten the young man had even entered the shop.  
  
-Author's Note- I know I know, that's not really a chapter. That's why I waited till I had written the first chapter before posting it. 


	2. Chapter 1: A startling entrance into a ...

Chapter 1: A startling entrance into a new world.  
  
His bed was moving. It wasn't violent movement, or anything like that, but more of a gentle, side to side, swaying movement that would've helped him sleep if it weren't for the fact that the movement shouldn't have been there in the first place. And it also felt as if his bed was oh so slowly bending, allowing his feet to drop. Then he realized that his bed was quite a bit narrower than it should be, allowing his feet to dangle off to either side.  
It wasn't until he felt a breeze drift across his face that he opened his eyes, rather fearful of what he would find. The site of leaves above him, and a clear blue sky viewed through those didn't do much to alleviate his fears. He slowly ran his right hand along his 'bed' and felt bark. He then looked to the left and right.  
Yep. He was in a tree.  
(What the hell am I doing in a damned tree?!)  
He looked down.  
(And a very high tree at that...)  
Since he never was one for tree climbing, getting down would be a tricky procedure. But he knew the basics, and was rather fit so he should be able to handle it. Now, first thing to do is shift around till he can use both of his legs and arms...  
CRACK!!  
Correction: Shift around until the tree branch finally breaks.  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"  
Then scream on the way down.  
He hit the ground with a very hard 'Thud'. For a moment, he simply lay there, and then he heard a female voice laugh and then speak.  
"Ouch. That had to hurt. You okay?"  
He rolled over onto his back, and glared at the girl. She had dirty blond hair, most of which was shoulder length. The exception was an obscenely long braid, nearly reaching the ground. She was wearing a blue denim jacket, which was open, revealing a red muscle shirt with a Nike sign on the front. The shirt was tucked into a blue denim, knee-length skirt, and her shoes were white sneakers. She wore a pair of fingerless gloves, revealing rainbow painted nails as well as a mood ring on her middle finger.  
She leaned over toward him, and he noticed the colors of her eyes. The left was green while the right was blue. He also noticed the piercing, two in each ear, which supported shark teeth, and a string necklace with an unidentified tooth hanging from it. She extended a hand to help him, but he climbed to his feet without taking it, and she stood up straight in an attempt to keep her feeling of height. The attempt died when she noticed that he was 6'1", much taller than her own 5'6".  
She grinned slightly as she studied him. He was wearing a black jacket, with a black tank top underneath, which was tucked into a pair of tan cargo kaki's, which were held up by a black belt with a silver buckle. The pants bunched over a pair of what looked to be steel toe boots. She transferred her attention to his face, and saw him studying her with intense, ice blue eyes. She noticed two silver studs in each of his earlobes, spaced about a centimeter apart.  
"Ah, the strong silent type. So, Newb, what's your name?"  
He glared at her, and crossed his arms over his chest.  
"Ryu. Now, where am I, who are you, and what do you mean by 'Newb'?"  
She grinned and turned away from him a bit, just as a breeze kicked up, which blew his blond hair about, and made her braid sway slightly.  
"I'm Yuna Horitaru, and I meant newbie to the world of Bishonen and Bishoujo! As for where you are beyond that, you're three miles north of Devic City, prime Naruto territory!"  
Ryu opened his mouth for an angry response, but sudden movement from his peripheral vision made him hold off on the comment to glance in that direction. He returned his attention to Yuna, when he suddenly whipped his head around so fast that it popped to stare in shock at the person calmly walking over to Yuna. Ryu's arms slowly loosened to fall to his sides and he just stared at Sesshomaru as the youkai lord came to a graceful stop by Yuna's side, his long silver hair blowing in the breeze. He glanced at Ryu out of the corner of his eye, and then returned his vision to Yuna in inquiry.  
Ryu finally blinked. He closed his eyes, and shook his head vigorously, and pinched his arm. He opened his eyes, and stared at Sesshomaru for a moment before walking up to the demon. Then Ryu reached out and poked Sesshomaru's arm. Sesshomaru turned his head to Ryu and glared at him, though Ryu couldn't tell since Sesshomaru's face didn't change. Yuna chuckled softly, and then spoke.  
"Yes, that's Fluffy, and yes, he's real. This is the world of Bishonen and Bishoujo."  
Ryu thought he saw what would've passed for Sesshomaru flinching. He looked at Yuna and quirked an eyebrow in inquiry.  
"'Fluffy'"?  
Yep, definite Sesshomaru flinch. It was something about the eyes...  
Yuna shrugged when she spoke.  
"I was half asleep when I caught him, and all I saw was the tail at first. I also caught a Naraku before I moved on to another area, where I caught a Ryoga. I'd let him out, but I don't do that except when it's time for him to fight. And Naraku's around here somewhere..."  
Ryu walked back to the base of the tree he had fallen out of, and folded at the knees and waist. He placed his arms on his knees, and let his hands dangle in front of him, his eyes unfocused. Sesshomaru, Naraku, and Ryoga? Three characters from two of his favorite animes.  
Yuna studied Ryu with some sympathy in her eyes, before walking forward to sit down next to him, her back against the tree. She was about to speak when Ryu's head snapped up and he looked at her with an intense gaze while he asked a question.  
"What about people back in the old world? How do I contact them?"  
Yuna's look of sympathy increased, and she thought about how to phrase her answer.  
"Well...the people back home don't know you exist right now."  
Ryu's expression changed to display an emotion Yuna couldn't identify.  
"You mean they have no idea I was ever born, or I met anyone?"  
Yuna nodded sadly at him. Her eyes then opened in surprise when Ryu suddenly grinned, his face lighting up, and he stood up in one smooth motion, and pumped his fist in the air.  
"YES!! Never have to put up with my parents shit ever again!"  
He started doing a little victory dance while Yuna and Sesshomaru watched bemusedly. Yuna smiled slightly.  
"So I guess leaving home wasn't a problem for you."  
Ryu stopped dancing around like an idiot, and grinned at her. She took that for agreement, and grinned back.  
"Right. Well, we'd better get you to town so you can go through Orientation. HEY NARAKU, GET YOUR SORRY BUTT OVER HERE!"  
For a moment nothing happened. Then a man wearing a white baboon skin dropped down from the tree that Ryu had appeared in.  
"Right. Naraku, you carry Ryu, and Fluffy, you carry me. We're heading back to Devic."  
"I don't think so."  
Yuna turned to Ryu.  
"Why not?"  
"Two reasons. One: I've seen Inuyasha. There's no chance I'll be trusting Naraku. Two: I hate being indebted to others, even over something as trivial as this. I'll walk if you don't mind."  
Yuna was about to protest, but something about the set of Ryu's jaw told her he would not change his mind. After a moment, she nodded and started walking, Ryu following.  
  
-------------------------------------- --- :Two hours later:  
  
Yuna glanced at Ryu out of the corner of her eye, feeling faintly annoyed. Yuna was a rather talkative person, and the silence that constantly surrounded her from her bishonen constantly grated on her. Sesshomaru didn't talk except to answer direct questions, and then it was usually a 'yes' or 'no'. Naraku talked, but he played to many head-trips with her for her to enjoy it for any long period of time. So the chance to talk to another human being was one she would've preferred, but Ryu wasn't the most talkative of people. In fact for the past hour and a half, he hadn't talked at all.  
He had been listening to music. He had a CD player on him, as well as a pair of headphones, the kind that fit into the ear, while wrapping around it as well to hold the phone in place. After a half hour of walking in relative silence, he had pulled out the headphones and turned on some music.  
As Yuna and her small traveling group rounded a bend in the road, the city of Devic came into view, and Yuna felt her spirits rise. If Ryu had any redeeming qualities, it was that he hadn't stopped walking, allowing them to get to the city. Though they could've made it in about ten minutes if Fluffy and Naraku had taken them...  
After walking to the gates of the city, they encountered a guard, who stopped them. Ryu took off his headphones, and put them away.  
"I need to see your dexs before I allow entry."  
"Dex? What's a 'dex'?"  
Yuna looked at Ryu for a moment, then pulled out her dex and showed it to the guard. After examining the gadget, the guard handed it back to her, and turned to Ryu and held out his hand. Ryu merely glowered at the guard with an expression of dislike, crossing his arms over his chest.  
"He's a newbie. Doesn't have any of his gear yet."  
The guard nodded in understanding and retracted his hand. Ryu still glowered at him, arms still crossed over his chest, and Yuna briefly wondered at the reason.  
But as the guard stepped aside and let them through, Yuna put her curiosity in the back of her mind while she looked for the orientation building. She saw a sign pointing her and Ryu in the right direction, and she started to walk in the direction indicated. It took her nearly ten seconds to realize that Ryu wasn't following.  
She turned back around, and couldn't stifle a good-natured laugh. She was sure even Sesshomaru was amused, though his face was impassive as always.  
Ryu was turning about rapidly in a circle, looking at one bishonen or bishoujo, and then following another as it walked past his field of vision. The poor guy looked overwhelmed as an Akane and a Saitoh both crossed his field of vision, and passed each other, creating the dilemma of which one Ryu should follow with his eyes. Yuna took pity on him and walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder. He snapped out of a daze, and turned to face her, his eyes focusing of hers.  
"They're all real...I thought I had accepted it, but deep down, I was expecting this to all be a grand and cruel joke...But the sight of so many..."  
He closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and slowly shook his head. Yuna was troubled by the sound of his voice and the look in his eyes, the look and sound of crushed spirit and hope.  
Ryu was not a person who had gotten through life with little trouble. She remembered his reaction to when she told him that people in the old world didn't know they existed right now, and Yuna wondered what had happened to him to make him feel this way.  
Her musings were cut short when Ryu opened his eyes and grinned at her. He looked completely different now.  
"So, where's this Orientation building?"  
  
-------------------------------------- ---  
  
Ryu stood in front of the Orientation building, a large, office-ish affair, with the word 'Orientation', in rather large, garish red letters painted on a sign on the buildings front. Yuna had hurried off a minute ago, once the building came into site, to talk with some people she had met last time she had traveled through the town, leaving Ryu to tackle this event alone. Which was fine with him. He was a lone wolf, and he knew it.  
(Quite large for something that simply tells people what this things all about. Do they really need what looks like three stories?)  
Ryu walked through the door into the building, and saw nothing to change his opinion of the Orientation being nothing but a large office building. It had the standard lobby, complete with receptionist desk, couches, and chairs, which looked marginally comfortable, for waiting, and various doors. Ryu still couldn't see why it needed to be so damned big.  
He stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets, and walked up to the receptionist desk. The clerk looked up when he leaned against the desk.  
"Newbie? Then go wait over there for a few minutes, the Professor is nearly done with the current batch."  
Ryu looked where the clerk indicated, and saw a group of people of medium size, about ten or so, people of various ages, occupying various couches and chairs in the waiting area. Ryu nodded at the clerk in thanks, and walked over to the waiting area. He sat in an unclaimed chair, found it moderately comfortable, and slumped down, lazily relaxing in the chair. He pulled out his headphones, and put them in his ear. He then turned on the CD player.  
As the soothing music of Papa Roach came on, Ryu studied the other newbies waiting with him.  
Most weren't of interest, but one caught his eye. She was about his age, 17, and a few inches over five feet. She had long black hair, green eyes, and a light tan. She was wearing blue bell-bottom jeans, and a matching blue shirt, as well as black boots with two inch heals. Before Ryu could continue with any further inspection, a door opened, and a group of three people walked out, wearing belts filled with a black and white version of a pokemon ball, and carrying devices that Ryu now recognized as dex's.  
The group of three people was followed by a young woman, in her mid- twenties, wearing a white lab coat, jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers. Ryu turned off his music and put the headphones away to hear what the woman had to say.  
"Ah, more newbies? Come with me then."  
Ryu got up and followed the others into a room that the woman had emerged from, finding himself in a large classroom, complete with desks and a chalkboard.  
"Please take a seat, then we'll get started."  
Ryu complied, taking a seat in the front row, next to a guy with red hair, a black shirt, and baggy pants.  
"Well now, I imagine you're all rather surprised to find yourselves here. It can be quite a shock to wake up like that, and then to have a total stranger direct you to this building. Now then as to the reason why they directed you here."  
At this point, the woman moved behind a desk, pulled out the chair, and sat down. She then looked them all in the eye as she started speaking.  
"You've been brought to this building so I may explain the rules of this world, and what this world is about."  
At the word 'rules' Ryu had instinctively scowled, but he listened to what the lady had to say anyway.  
"Now, you all received an anonymous e-mail, which was an add for becoming a Bishonen or Bishoujo trainer. At the bottom of the page there was a link that said 'Make Me A Trainer'. When you clicked on this link, your computer froze and everything went black. When you came to, you were in this world. Correct?"  
Everyone nodded, and Ryu remembered finding that e-mail in his account. It had confused him a little at first, but he decided to check it out anyway. The black and white pokemon ball nearly made him delete the e- mail in disgust.  
"This world is a world where your favorite characters from any anime, movie, or book walk about in the flesh. This world is constantly growing, as new series are created, a new area appears in this world to accommodate them, and each series has their own hidden city. That's where the first rule comes in; you can explore the boundaries of these areas, but do NOT search for the hidden bishonen cities. This will violate a pact made between them and us. The purpose of this pact is to keep us from tearing the world apart, and driving them all into extinction. Violating this act will place you at the mercy of the bishonen who's city you attempted to invade, and we will give you NO aid what-so-ever. Understood?"  
Everyone nodded again, some more vigorously than others. Ryu was one of the ones who merely nodded, but he had taken the woman's words to heart. As skilled a fighter as he was, he knew that against some anime characters, he would go down hard.  
"Now, we do, of course, have the technology to capture the bishonen and bishoujo, for either protection, battling, or company of the conversational kind, or the pleasurable kind."  
That last statement raised a few eyebrows, and one of the girls talked for the first time.  
"You mean we're compatible with them?!"  
The woman looked at the girl with a slight grin on her face.  
"Of course. There are quite a few half-bishies wandering around out there, and they can look exactly like their parents. My own son is the spitting image of his father."  
Ryu felt his right eyebrow rise of its own accord to join his left eyebrow.  
"Anyway, as I said, we have the technology to capture bishies, and that brings us to our second rule; NEVER capture a chibi."  
"'Chibi'?"  
The woman looked at the speaker, the girl with the black hair and green eyes. She studied the girl for a moment, then reached into a drawer on her desk and rummaged around in it for a moment. When her hand reappeared, she was holding a black and white ball, which had been a picture on the website with the link, and were things everyone here carried.  
"This is a bish-ball. These are what you use to capture the bishies, who come in three stages. Instead of growing, they evolve you might say. The three levels are 'chibi', 'san', and 'sama'. You may only capture san's or sama's. Capturing a chibi without the consent of its parents is strictly forbidden. It is akin to kidnapping."  
As she spoke the woman looked each of them in the eye, and when she was done speaking, they all nodded. She put away the bish ball, and smiled slightly.  
"Now, I'm not saying there aren't ways to get a chibi. If two of your bishies get romantically involved, and have a chibi, that is all right. Or you may capture a chibi if and ONLY if the parents give their consent. Otherwise, it is forbidden, and the chibi's parents will more than likely hunt you down to get their child back."  
Everyone nodded again, this time with a little more force.  
"Now then, capturing. If any of you have seen pokemon that is how it is done. You throw the ball at the bishonen, and it captures them. If you want to release them, let them out, and then break the ball in half after opening it manually. But do not release all of your bishonen unless you wish to be taken home at that instant. That also leads to another rule. If you do not capture a bishie within two weeks, you will be automatically sent home."  
Ryu scowled at the news that he might still end up in the old world. That was not something he would allow to happen.  
"And now for the final rule; keep your bishies within three miles of yourselves at all times, except in the greatest of emergencies. If you do not, after 48 hours, the bishies will go insane and die."  
A stunned silence followed this announcement, and Ryu spoke for the first time after he found his voice.  
"What makes them go insane?"  
"Once the bishies are captured, they are tied to you by blood."  
Ryu swallowed and nodded. These would be rules that he would have no trouble following, despite his general dislike for rules and forms of authority of any kind.  
"Right then, just line up over here, and I can get a blood sample, and you can go out and get your supplies. Then it's off to capture bishies!"  
The group of people obediently lined up, and Ryu found himself near the back of the line. For a moment, no one moved. Ryu realized that they had only just realized that the woman was holding a hypodermic needle, and the first person in line didn't want to go near it. Or anyone else for that matter.  
Ryu grunted in the back of his throat and got out of line and walked to the front. He slipped his right arm out of the sleeve of his jacket, and after flexing a few times to bring a vein close to the surface, thrust his arm out for the woman to collect the blood sample. She nodded at him in approval.  
Ryu didn't bother with looking away, or flinching when she inserted the needle into his arm. A slight pinch, a small itch, then the needle was gone. It wasn't that needles didn't bother him. They gave him the creeps. He just had better things to do, and he knew that it was rather painless.  
Ryu drew his jacket back on and watched as the woman placed the needle filled with blood into a machine he hadn't noticed before. The needle vanished into the machine, which then clanked and whirred for a few seconds, then beeped. Another compartment opened, holding a belt filled with bish balls. The woman picked up the belt and handed it to him, along with a dex.  
"You get your first twenty bishballs free, as well as a dex. These act as a mix between cell phones, encyclopedia's, and GPS systems. They can tell you any known information about a bishie, as well as record another person's dex number and then letting you call that person. It also displays all of your personal information, such as how long you've been a trainer, your bishies, and the circumstances of their capture, ect."  
Ryu nodded at her, put the dex in his jacket breast pocket, and slipped the belt around his waist. For a second, the belt felt awkward. Then a strange shiver passed through Ryu's body, and afterward, the belt felt...right. Ryu's eyes widened a little in surprise as he put one of his hands on a bishball. He turned and looked the woman in the eye, seeing her small smile of knowing. He nodded, and then moved aside for the next person in line.  
The others seemed to be encouraged by Ryu's success, and everyone was soon fitted with their own equipment, and were ushered out the door with the instructions to tell the local shopkeepers that they were new to this world.  
As they filed out of the building, they were all in high spirits, and were conversing loudly, even Ryu, who was talking to the red haired boy he had sat next to. The boy was currently telling Ryu what bishoujo he wanted to catch.  
"Man, I hope I can find an Aeris, from Final Fantasy 7!"  
Ryu nodded, and spoke.  
"Good choice. But I think I'd rather catch a Ryoko from the Tenchi series, or maybe a Marle from Chrono Trigger."  
The two of them got drawn into a small debate about the finer points of either bishoujo, but Ryu's mind was only partly on the debate. The rest was dwelling on how he was the only person to experience the shiver, then that feeling of...right...  
(Very interesting...I'll have to look into that.)  
  
:Author's note:  
  
So, what did you think? I'll have bishonen show up and interact with everyone a lot more in the next chapter. Please give me some feedback. 


	3. Chapter 2: Journey's start, and a new bi...

Chapter 2: Journey's start, and a first bishonen.  
  
Ryu was lost. There was no other word for it, and he never was one to hide the truth, at least from himself.  
Nearly two weeks ago, he remembered, he had come out of the orientation building, split off from the other newbies, and went to get the rest of his equipment. After acquiring his equipment, he had headed straight out of the city and into the forest he had appeared in. He had wandered aimlessly in the forest without seeing anything but birds, trees, and bugs. He was close to panic now.  
If he didn't catch a bishonen by tomorrow he was going home. And once he was there, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to take it, knowing he had had a chance to leave behind that hellish life for this one.  
With the possibility of going home now looming in his mind, he was determined to catch a bishonen today, or die trying.  
Unfortunately, he was so focused on that vow in his head, that he completely missed the fact that he had left the small path he had been following. Or the fact that he was walking toward a cliff over a steep hill.  
Till he walked off it.  
"Wha-"THUD! "Oof!"  
And proceeded to roll down the hill, running into every...  
WHAM!! "Ack!"  
...rock...  
CRASH, RUSTLE RUSTLE. "YEOW!!"  
...bush, complete with thorns...  
THUD, BONK BONK. "Oof...OW OW!!"  
...tree, dropping large, hard fruit...  
ROLL ROLL DROP "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"  
...still rolling until going off ANOTHER cliff...  
THUD. "Uhhhhhn...damn that hurt..." "Uhn..."  
...falling ten feet and landing on a person nice enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and break his fall.  
It took Ryu nearly a minute to collect his wits and get the presence of mind to sit up. He turned around, still sitting on his unfortunate landing pad, and opened his mouth to thank the person below him, but also to apologize profusely.  
He stopped and stared at the young boy beneath him, his mouth falling open in shock.  
(Red hair...Green eyes, slightly dazed...Large, familiar but illegible Japanese character on forehead...Big gourd...)  
"Gaara of the sand..."  
As Gaara blinked and began to do more than twitch feebly, Ryu pulled out a bishball and tapped him on the shoulder. He vanished into the ball, and Ryu fell the rest of the way to the ground with a soft bump, looking intently at the bishball. It shook for a moment, rather feebly, then gave a soft 'beep' and lie still in his palm. For a moment Ryu sat there, his mouth hanging open as he stared at the bishball in his hand.  
Then the fact that he was staying here sank in. He wasn't going home. He had caught a bishonen.  
"YES!!"  
Ryu once again jumped up and pumped his fist into the air, then proceeded to do his victory dance. Ryu had just finished moonwalking, followed by a spin, bishball still in hand, when he heard clapping.  
"Nice. Very nice. I've been trying to catch Gaara for a while now. And yet you do it in a second. And from the looks of things, quite a spur of the moment action."  
Ryu jammed his foot in the ground to stop his spin facing the newcomer. The man was in partly in shadow, and he walked out into the light, revealing black hair done in a three-foot braid, with two white bangs dangling in his face. The young man was wearing a black long sleeved shirt with a blue dragon circling the right sleeve, with a silver necklace and pendant, black jeans and black shoes. The young man was about Ryu's age, maybe a little older. And a Sasuke, dressed as he had been in the series, with a thick blue t-shirt, and white shorts, shortly followed him.  
Ryu guessed the Sasuke was a san, but couldn't be sure. Ryu opened his mouth to speak, but his words died when he felt the bishball vibrate slightly. He looked down at it in surprise before grinning, and holding the ball up.  
"Come on out Gaara."  
A beam of light shot out of the ball and expanded to form the bishonen that Ryu had just landed on and caught. The red haired shinobi glared at everyone before settling on Ryu. Ryu crossed his arms, Gaara followed suit, and a glaring contest was under way. The young man who spoke interrupted it, speaking again.  
"Geez, ease up guys."  
Gaara and Ryu looked at him, both blinking in slight surprise.  
"I'm Ryoki, a new trainer hereabouts'. What about you?"  
Ryu grinned, and started tossing Gaara's bishball up and down with his right hand, his left now in his pocket.  
"Ryu. Gaara's my first capture, and just in time too. Another day, and I was going home. Oh yeah, just remembered..."  
Ryu reached into his pack and pulled out the dex. He opened it, and pointed it at Gaara.  
"Beep beep...Name: Gaara. Nickname:?"  
Gaara threw Ryu a death glare, and Ryu shrugged before replying.  
"No nickname."  
Gaara's glare subsided to only 'slightly-death' glare.  
"Let me go."  
Ryu looked at Gaara with slightly narrowed eyes.  
"And why would I do that? And why are you so upset? All I did was capture you."  
"And that means I can't go home, or-"  
"You can't go home anyway Gaara."  
All eyes turned to Sasuke, who was eyeing Gaara with distaste. Ryoki questioned his bishie on the matter.  
"You didn't mention that bit. Why can't he go home Sasuke?"  
Sasuke didn't answer. Instead he merely glared at Gaara, who glared back. After waiting for an answer for half a minute, Ryu guessed that one wasn't coming.  
"Tell you what Gaara. Once I catch another bish, I'll let you go, if you still want to go. Deal?"  
Gaara instantly nodded, and stopped intentionally glaring at everyone. It didn't do much, as his face was better suited for glaring than anything else. Ryu nodded back, and placed Gaara's bishball in his belt. He then swung his pack off, dropped down into a crouch, and opened the main pouch. He pulled out two boxes; one was plain metal, unmarked, while the other was white plastic, with a red cross on the front.  
Ryu opened the metal box first, and pulled out a simple refrigerator capsule. He pressed the button, and then tossed it a few feet away. With a slight 'bomb', the capsule vanished into a gas cloud, which cleared to reveal a moderately sized fridge. Ryu stood and walked over to the fridge, opened it, and pulled out a coke, and a plastic bottle filled with a slightly green, but mostly transparent liquid. He then gestured to the fridge.  
"Help yourselves."  
While Ryoki leapt forward with eagerness, and Sasuke and Gaara came forward with a greater display of discipline, all three of them intent on raiding Ryu's fridge, Ryu walked over to a tree stump and sat down. Then, while mentally cursing himself for not wearing his jacket despite the warm temperature, Ryu pulled off his tank top. He hissed slightly, which drew the attention of the other three in the clearing. Sasuke and Gaara had merely grabbed bottled ice teas, and then moved off to areas where they made themselves comfortable. Ryoki on the other hand...  
Ryoki turned away from the fridge for a second, a burrito jutting out of his mouth like a cigarette, to see what the hiss was, and then turned back to the fridge. He emerged a second later with cheese, bread, mayonnaise and mustard, and three kinds of deli meat, all somehow juggled with one hand. In the other hand, he had two bottles of Dr. Pepper, and a container of chip dip. Clamped in his mouth, alongside the burrito, which was somehow constantly disappearing while its unfortunate neighbor was not, was a bag of chips.  
Ryu opened the first aid kit, and pulled out a piece of cloth. He then opened the bottle of the green liquid, the coke lying forgotten for the moment, and poured some of the liquid onto the cloth. As he did this, he spoke to Ryoki.  
"You know, when I said 'help yourselves', I didn't mean eat the whole fridge."  
Ryoki merely grinned, which wasn't seen behind the burrito, which was only just remaining, and the chip bag, and shrugged. He walked over to a patch of shade, provided by a tree, and sat down on the ground. He arrayed the foodstuffs about him in a semi-circle, and finally polished off the burrito, allowing him to speak.  
"I figured I'd raid your fridge this afternoon, you'd raid mine tonight."  
Ryu shrugged, and applied the wet cloth to the greatest collection of scratches. He hissed slightly as the scratches stung like hell for a moment, then the stinging faded, and he moved onto the next set. Soon he had placed the cloth over every scratch on his upper body, hissing at the contact every time the cloth was applied. Now Ryu set the cloth down, kicked off his shoes, then removed his pants, leaving himself clad in only his underwear. He then picked up the cloth, and after pouring some more green liquid on it, applied it to the scratches decorating his legs. He hissed every time the cloth was applied again, but was soon done, and put the cloth into the first aid kit, and re-capped the bottle of the green liquid.  
Ryu then pulled on his pants and but left them un-buttoned and the belt un-buckled. He then grabbed his tank top, and pulled it on. But as he did so, Ryoki glanced at Ryu out of the corner of his eye and saw several scars that were visible when the other boy lifted his arms over his head to pull the shirt on.  
After he had tucked his shirt in, buttoned his pants and buckled the belt, Ryu stood and walked over to the fridge barefoot, the bottle of green liquid in his right hand. When he reached the fridge, he opened it with his left hand, and returned the bottle, then closed the fridge. He walked back over to the stump and sat down, just as a breeze blew through the area. The breeze blew the hair of everyone about. It made Gaara look as if he had blood red flame sitting atop his head, while Sasuke had the look of black spikes, dancing every which way. Ryoki's braid was picked up by the wind, and was blown about slightly, while the white bangs danced wildly in front of his face.  
Ryu's hair blew about, and he picked up the coke, opened it, and downed half of it in a couple of gulps. As he tilted his head back, light hit his blowing hair just right to reveal the flame red highlights in his hair. Ryu finished drinking half the soda, and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His left hand, unoccupied with the soda, dangled aimlessly, while his right hand dangled, but retained a hold on the cold beverage.  
"So, Ryoki, how did you end up here?"  
Ryoki finished making his sandwich, and put the items away in the fridge, then walked back toward the sandwich, all the while making his reply.  
"I was at school a couple of days ago, and panicking cause' there was a rather large test the next period, which I totally forgot to study for. I decided to check my e-mail, for some reason I can't remember, and the next thing I know, I appear in mid air, inside a jail cell. Took three hours for the guards to find me, and another five for me to convince them the truth of my story, all the while they were laughing their asses off. At the time, I thought that they were laughing at how bizarre my story sounded, but later on I figured out that they were laughing at my misfortune. Of course at that time, I figured out why one of them brought a camera. Damn bastards. What about you?"  
Ryu took a small drink of the coke before replying.  
"I was on my way home from school, and I stopped at a computer shop to check my e-mail. I wake up in a tree, on a rather weak branch. Then I plummet to the ground, and some weird girl with a braid longer than yours shows up with Sesshomaru following her around. She leads me to the nearby city, and then leaves after showing me the Orientation building. That was nearly two weeks ago."  
"You seem to fall a lot..."  
"And you need a hair cut."  
Ryoki was outraged.  
"WHAT!? Hey, I LIKE my hair!!"  
Ryu chuckled as Ryoki grabbed his braid and stroked it for a moment, then let the hair go, and grinned. He then crammed the last of his sandwich into his mouth, and stood.  
"Well, we better be moving along..."  
Ryu didn't move from the stump.  
"You go ahead, but I'm gonna camp here. I've had enough movement for one day."  
Ryoki considered him for a moment, then shrugged, and sat back down.  
  
-------------------------------------- ---  
  
Later that night, a fire blazed in a hole, surrounded by a circle of stones, and over the fire roasted a chicken. Ryoki sat cross-legged in front of the fire, slowly basting the chicken while Ryu was lying back against a pillow on his sleeping bag across the fire from Ryoki. Gaara was sitting in front of the fire cross-legged, staring into the flames, while Sasuke leaned up against a tree, just inside the sphere of light cast by the fire, his arms crossed, and his head resting against his chest.  
Ryu lay back, with his hands cupped underneath his head, looking up at the stars, visible through the tree's canopy. He felt the heat from the fire, and for the first time in a long time, he felt happy. While camping was a new experience, not totally to his liking, he was still away from home, and never going back. Never going back to that hell...  
"Dinner's ready."  
Ryoki's statement brought Ryu back to the real world, and he sat up, accepting a thigh and drumstick from Ryoki, who had already carved off a part for himself, and was now carving a healthy portion for Gaara, then Sasuke.  
Ryu didn't bother with utensils; instead he merely picked up the chicken and bit into it, ignoring the heat the meat radiated. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand to get rid of the meat juices, then nodded his satisfaction at Ryoki before consuming the rest, and tossing the bones away.  
Ryoki and the bishonen showed more restraint the Ryu, waiting till the chicken cooled a little, and then eating.  
Once everyone was done, they all relaxed, and a comfortable silence stretched. Ryoki leaned back against his own sleeping bag, still rolled, and studied Ryu over the fire. After a moment of quiet reflection, Ryoki stood up and rolled out his sleeping bag. He crawled into it, and was soon asleep, his back to the fire.  
Ryu followed Ryoki's example. He stripped down to his underwear, and crawled into his own sleeping bag. For a moment, he just lied there, staring up at the stars. Then he remembered the last time he had done this, just stared up at the beautiful stars, far overhead...  
  
:Flashback:  
  
A thirteen-year-old Ryu sat on the roof of a house quickly falling into a level of great disrepair. The paint was peeling, the lawn and garden were overgrown with weeds, and shingles were missing from the roof in great quantities. Ryu himself looked almost as battered as the house, with worn and stained clothing, his knees drawn up to his chest with his arms wrapped around them, and his eyes just visible above them. The eyes were staring unseeingly out at neighborhood that the house was in, and then they focused, and Ryu's face lifted up to stare at the stars overhead. He stared and dreamed.  
But as Ryu's face came into view, unhidden by his knees, his face was revealed to have a copious amount of dried blood, that had poured from his nose, smeared all over the lower half of his face.  
  
Ryu viciously tore himself away from the memory, and with an angry shake of his head, he lay back, and fell asleep.  
  
-------------------------------------- ---  
  
The next day dawned bright and early. And Ryu gave a muffled curse as the sun hit his unprotected face, bringing him back to the world of wakefulness.  
"Bloody hell...Damned sun. GO AWAY!!"  
And with that, Ryu pulled the sleeping bag over his head, in a somewhat successful attempt to block out the sunlight.  
Ryoki sat up and looked around, blinking. Of course the fact that he was blinking was made rather mute as he was wearing an eye mask, effectively keeping out the sun, and everything else.  
"What the...why can't I see...?..."  
He reached up and felt his face, finding the eye mask. He gave a slight jump of surprise, and pulled it off.  
"Oh...Ah, bright!"  
For a moment, he sat there, letting his eyes blearily adjust to the light. Once he could open them and see properly, Ryoki looked around the clearing. Gaara sat in front of the fire, prodding it with a stick and bringing it back to life. Sasuke was leaning up against a tree, perfectly balanced so he wouldn't fall over in his sleep.  
Ryoki grinned as he picked up a small pebble, one that had caused him much grief in the night till he had woken up and moved the damn thing as well as grabbed his eye mask, and lightly threw it toward Sasuke. The throw was slightly off, and would've hit the tree trunk next to Sasuke had the bishonen not caught it.  
And promptly slipped off the tree, and fell to the ground.  
Ryoki cracked up laughing as Sasuke climbed back to his feet, glaring at Ryoki and muttering under his breath, trying to salvage his dignity. Ryoki loved taking people down the occasional peg, and Sasuke was no exception.  
Once Ryoki's laughs subsided, he glanced at Ryu, who was still in his sleeping bag, hiding from the sun. With an evil grin, Ryoki pulled out a capsule, and pressed the button on top. Once the gas had cleared, Ryoki's own fridge stood where he had tossed the capsule. Ryoki opened the fridge, and pulled out a bucket with a lid, and pulled the lid off, revealing water, and with no small amount of ice. He then calmly walked over to Ryu, and slowly lifted the bucket into the air, grasping it at the rim away from Ryu, and the bottom. He then lifted it up a little more, and started to tilt it-  
"As if life wasn't short enough."  
-and stopped tilting it, but kept it slightly tilted, the water just before the point where it would poor out. Ryoki considered Ryu's statement for a moment, and then spoke.  
"You're right. Life isn't short enough."  
Ryoki then upended the bucket full of freezing ice water over Ryu.  
  
A trainer three miles away looked up, as did his bishies, at the sounds of enraged screaming, and what sounded oddly like a metal bucket being used to beat someone... After a moment, the sounds stopped, and the trainer and his bishies glanced at each other, shrugged, and then went about their morning routines.  
  
Ryu pulled on his shirt, and tucked it into his pants, the same clothes he had worn yesterday. Since he had only a few changes of clothes, he was trying to make his clean clothes last. The only piece of clothing that was different from yesterdays was his underwear, since his old pair was now soaking wet, and stowed away in his backpack. He glanced over at Ryoki while buckling his belt.  
The other trainer now lay on the ground, still in his PJ's, with a decidedly dazed and battered look about his face. A dented, and deformed bucket lay on the ground next to Ryoki, one of the dents looking strangely like Ryoki's face...  
Ryu walked over to Ryoki's fridge, with his fridge capsule in hand. He pressed the button and tossed the capsule next to Ryoki's fridge. Once the gas cloud cleared, Ryu opened his own fridge and started transferring items from Ryoki's fridge into his own. Once Ryu felt he had taken enough, he closed and capsulized his fridge, and put the capsule away. He then proceeded to raid Ryoki's fridge for breakfast, grabbing two air pressure cans of whip cream. As he stood, he hooked his right foot on the fridges door, and swung the door closed, then tossed a can to Gaara, who caught it, then glared bemusedly at it. He watched as Ryu popped the cap off his own can of whip cream, shook it vigorously, then placed the nozzle before his mouth, and pressed the nozzle to the side, spraying a liberal amount of cream into his mouth. After a moment, Ryu released the nozzle, and swallowed the whip cream.  
Gaara, looking at the whip cream can as if he was sure it could never work, followed Ryu's example. He popped off the cap, shook the can, and then sprayed a small amount of the cream into his mouth to test the taste. For a moment he sat there, blinking. Then he tilted his head back, and sprayed a mouthful of cream into his mouth. Ryu chuckled, and looked at Sasuke. The dark haired bishonen was watching him warily.  
"I'll see you later Sasuke. Tell Ryoki that the food from his fridge was payment for yesterday, while the whip cream was payment for this morning. Oh yeah. If we ever meet again, tell your trainer that next time, I'll get a bish to seal him inside an ice block."  
Ryu then brushed his wet hair out of his eyes, and walked out of the clearing, Gaara following, swallowing another mouthful of whipped cream.  
A few minutes after they had left the clearing, Ryoki came around. He sat up, and gingerly felt his face. After a moment, he noticed the disturbance in the dirt near his fridge and walked over to investigate. Sasuke had an evil grin on his face as his trainer reached the fridge and opened it.  
(3...2...1...0)  
"Wha...he stole...He Stole The Whip Cream!!! TRAITOR!!!"  
  
:Author's comments:  
  
Well, that sums up the second chapter. So, what'd you all think? 


	4. Chapter 3: The first battle is the harde...

Chapter 3: The First Battle Is The Hardest...  
  
Ryu looked at the woods around him, listening to the birds and insects call out to each other. Gaara silently padded along, looking straight ahead. Ryu would've preferred listening to some music on his headphones, but he needed to listen to his surroundings even more. He had, after all, told Gaara that upon catching another bishie, Ryu would give Gaara his freedom. And he wasn't going to catch any more bishies if he couldn't hear his surroundings.  
After another hour of walking, Ryu and Gaara came to a clearing, which had the look of having recent inhabitants. A circle of stones covered with ash told that someone had built a fire there not too long ago, while a few areas had the look of being picked clean of stones. There were also marks on the ground that looked to have been caused by a fridge in the rather recent past, and a few logs and rocks circled the fire, providing seats.  
"We'll stop here for the day. I doubt we'll find a better camping spot."  
Ryu swung his pack off and set it on the ground, then pulled out the capsule case. In short order, he and Gaara had set up a nice camping spot, and a fire was soon crackling merrily, over which roasted the last bit of food pilfered from Ryoki five days earlier, a few pieces of chicken, which Ryu sprinkled lightly with seasoning. Some potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil soon went into the flames to cook, and soon the clearing was filled with the smells of roasting chicken.  
Ryu leaned back against a conveniently placed log before the fire, stretching his legs out so that they were placed close to the fire. Gaara picked a rock and sat down, pulling his left leg up to his chest, and resting his left arm on his knee. He stared blankly into the fire, his green eyes mirroring the flames.  
"Gaara..."  
Gaara looked up and over at Ryu, who was also looking into the fire absently, clearly troubled about something.  
"When I caught you, you wanted to be set free so you could return home, and Ryoki's Sasuke said you couldn't return home. Will you tell me what happened?"  
Gaara returned his attention to the fire and thought for a long while. Eventually, Ryu decided that Gaara wasn't going to tell him anything, and he started to stand.  
"I was banished."  
Ryu settled back into his previous position and waited. His patience was rewarded when Gaara continued, transferring his gaze to the sky, just as the first few stars became visible.  
"My mother was a Hinata, and she never recovered fully from my birth. She was weak, and couldn't walk very well. I worked to support the two of us, and so I was gone a great portion of each day, leaving my mother home alone. One day I returned, and when I opened the door, my mother's screams shot out, and suddenly cut off. I rushed into the house, and found a sama level Mizuki was in our home... The bastard had ripped off my mother's shirt, and slapped her onto the ground to stop her screaming. He turned to face me, and we fought. I knew that no help would be coming soon, since we lived on the very outskirts of the village. So I gave it everything I had. In the end, I barely won, and the bastard ran screaming from the house. I rushed to my mother's side to see if she was all right. But I should've followed that Mizuki and killed him!!"  
Ryu was rather surprised by the rage in Gaara's voice. He saw that Gaara had picked up a fist-sized rock sometime in the narrative, and that he had the rock in a knuckle white grip.  
"I heard him start talking loudly with some more bishonen just outside the house. He told them a doctored version of events in which he played the hero, arriving just in time to witness me attack my mother, but how I had been too strong and vicious, driving him away. The other bishonen believed him completely, and rushed into the house. I had just covered up my mother when they came around the corner and attacked me."  
At this point the rock in Gaara's hand was crushed as Gaara's anger got the better of him.  
"The sand shield reacted as it always did, and protected my mother and me. But I was tired, and now fighting much stronger bishonen than Mizuki. I got my mother to a place where she would be out of harms way, then ran. I made it to a Naruto's house, and told him everything. He told me he'd take care of my mother, and that he'd try to sort this mess out. He then told me to hide out in the woods, so I left. The Sasuke that Ryoki captured was a messenger from Naruto. He told me that the people at large believed Mizuki and not me, and that I mustn't return on pain of death. So I headed away, hoping to get an area where I could make my home. Then you fell on me."  
Ryu grinned at the memory.  
"And you should've seen your face. Wish I had a camera."  
The tension was broken, and both Gaara and Ryu laughed. Or Ryu laughed, Gaara merely grinned slightly.  
"Well, I'm a man of my word, and when I catch another bishonen, I'll let you go if you want. I'll even hike back to the area I caught you, and let you go there."  
Gaara considered that for a moment. He then shook his head, letting his left leg slide off the rock.  
"No. I might as well as go with you. It's easier for both parties involved."  
Ryu nodded at Gaara.  
"Welcome aboard, Gaara of the Sand."  
Gaara nodded back, and the two of them settled in to wait for the food to finish cooking.  
Half an hour later, they were both eating a meal of roasted chicken and potatoes. There were two pieces of chicken left, as well as a potato, and Ryu was just reaching for another piece of chicken when a voice called out.  
"Hello to camp!!"  
Ryu's head snapped up, and he looked around, as did Gaara.  
"I can smell the smoke from your fire, and hear your voices! Please share some food with me and my bishies, we're starving!"  
Ryu glanced at Gaara who shrugged in response. Before shouting his reply, Ryu noticed that Gaara's gourd was un-corked, allowing the bishonen to attack instantly with his sand. Ryu nodded at him.  
"Come on in! We've got a little food to share!"  
Ryu and Gaara turned to study the bushes off to the left side of the clearing as a rather strange group walked out of them. In the lead was a girl, about 19, with mid back length brown hair, and hazel green eyes. She was dressed entirely in black, black form-fitting tank top, black yoga style pants, and black gym shoes, and the ensemble was completed with a black, waist length jacket. Ryu saw a necklace, but was too far away to see what kind of ornament it had.  
Second in line was a Kurama, looking exactly like the TV series, dressed in his white and gray combat outfit, collected and composed. His hands were tucked into his pockets, and he studied Gaara and Ryu with calm eyes.  
It was hard to tell who was third and who was fourth in line. A teenage Vash walked out of the bushes with some difficulty, dressed as usual in a flowing red trench coat. He was having some difficulty because a Sanosuke stood in front of him, his hands placed on Vash's chest as he did his best to keep Vash back. As Sanosuke's legs were leaving deep furrows in the ground while Vash walked steadily forward, his eyes fixed on the remaining chicken, it was obvious that Sanosuke wasn't having much success.  
Kurama and the girl reached the fire, and sat on a log. Kurama ran a hand through his hair, and reached down to touch the ground. After a moment, vines suddenly erupted from the ground, winding around Vash's legs and succeeding in stopping his forward progress. Sanosuke relaxed, taking a deep breath in relief, and nodding his thanks to Kurama as he took a spot on another log. Kurama nodded in return, and Ryu noticed that Sanosuke's pants, instead of the too-short white pants, were a pair of black pants that actually reached his ankles, and were tied off.  
Ryu stood up, and walked over to the fridge, which had remained un- capsulized, and rummaged in it, coming up with some hotdogs, and a box of unknown food. He walked back over to the fire, and placed the hotdogs over it, letting them cook. He fished out the last baked potato, and waved his hands at the food.  
Kurama, Sanosuke, and the girl all grabbed an article of food; Sanosuke the potato, while Kurama and the girl grabbed the last two pieces of chicken. Ryu walked over to Vash, who was watching the other three members of his party eat, drooling heavily. Ryu held out the box, which Vash took with only half his attention. Ryu walked back to the fire as Vash opened the box, and a familiar sent reached his nose. Doughnuts.  
"WOOHOO!!"  
The three newcomers glanced up to see what Vash was yelling about, then went back to their own food as Vash wolfed down doughnuts. For a while, the only sounds were those of one person eating with the utmost of etiquette, two people attempting manners, and another person who gave etiquette not the barest glance.  
Soon, the food was completely eaten, and peaceful silence reigned. Kurama had untied Vash's legs, allowing the bishonen to sit on another log, and a healthy bit of covert staring and not so covert glaring was going on. Most of them were covertly staring and studying each other, while Gaara just glared at everyone about him.  
"Well, I suppose we should stop staring, and talk."  
Everyone's attention switched to the girl.  
"My name's Naomi Omiki."  
Ryu nodded at her.  
"Ryu Jeson."  
Naomi nodded back before continuing to speak.  
"Nice to meet you Ryu. You saved our lives with that food. I hate to encroach on your hospitality any more, but could you loan us some space of your camping ground?"  
She opened her mouth to continue, but Ryu held up a hand, and made a sweeping gesture around him.  
"There's plenty of space to go around."  
She nodded, and stood, her bishonen standing as well. They walked over to an area of the clearing, and began to set up camp, un-capsulizing several capsules to reveal a tent, complete with sleeping bags, and a momentarily useless, portable kitchen set.  
Soon the group was finished setting up their camp, and they returned to the logs around the fire. For a while, no one spoke, creating a comfortable silence. They either looked around at the surroundings, the sky with the slowly revealing stars, or into the fire, watching the flames. Soon night had fallen.  
Ryu had slid off of his log, sitting on the ground leaning back against the log, with his legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles. He was idly staring into the flames, eyes unfocused. On the log next to him was Gaara, who was looking up at the stars. Naomi was also sitting on a log, but she had crossed her legs underneath her, and was also looking into the flames, her hands clasped in front of her face. Sanosuke had slid off his log completely and was lying down on the ground, his hands acting as cushions for his head, looking up at the stars. Vash, in stark contrast to everyone else, had fallen asleep sitting up, and was gently snoring, his chin resting on his chest. Kurama, while not asleep, had his eyes closed, and his hands intertwined in front of his face. He was sitting on a log all his own, and was thinking.  
"So, you been here long?"  
Ryu looked up and studied Naomi before answering.  
"Just over two weeks. You?"  
"Oh, a month or two. You lose track of time when you're having fun."  
Ryu frowned a little, and went back to looking into the fire. Gaara glanced at Ryu out of the corner of his eye, but didn't say anything. Naomi also noticed Ryu's expression, but didn't comment on it, allowing Ryu his privacy.  
"So, only two weeks huh? Feeling homesick yet?"  
Ryu's head snapped up, and he glanced at Sano, his face carefully blank.  
"What do you mean?"  
Sano raised an eyebrow and elaborated.  
"Well, bishonen get taken from their homes. For the most part, we don't mind. Some of us even enjoy it. A chance to get out and see the world. But trainer's...You leave your home unknowingly, but you choose to stay away, away from your family and friends. I imagine you'd be feeling pretty homesick right about now."  
Whatever reaction Sano had been expecting, it certainly wasn't the one he got. Ryu started laughing.  
It started as a chuckle, then into full blown laughter. It wasn't a nice laugh, not the kind of laugh you'd hear after a good joke. This was laughter filled with bitterness, sadness, and a little fear.  
"Homesick?! HA! I'm probably in the minority here, but I had NOTHING to leave behind when I clicked that link. When I found out I could stay here, that was the first time I felt real happiness in...God, I can't even remember. Hmph. Homesickness. Leave that for the people who had a home and a family."  
With that, Ryu stood and walked over to his sleeping bag, and climbed inside.  
For a moment, Naomi's group looked at each other. Then Naomi shrugged, silently saying that it wasn't their business, and they headed for their own sleeping bags.  
Gaara cast a look at Ryu's prone form, then turned back to the fire, casting an irritated glance at the still snoring Vash. Gaara was going to be in for a long night.  
  
Naomi awoke quickly. She was normally a heavy sleeper, but outside, she slept lightly. She sat up, letting the sleeping bag fall away, and shivered slightly in the cooler air as goose bumps rose on her skin. She was glad she was in the tent, as she slept in a pair of pajamas, and would have privacy when she changed. She stripped off her pj's, and grabbed the change of clothes she had left out the night before, putting them on. She opened the door to the tent, and walked out, looking out over the camping ground.  
Gaara and Vash were in the same spots as last night, Gaara staring into the still burning fire, Vash still snoring lightly. Sano and Kurama were in their own sleeping bags, still asleep. Ryu was still in his sleeping bag, but he appeared to have just woken up, as he was looking around groggily. She heard him mutter something, then watched as his arm left the sleeping bag and grabbed an article of clothing from the pile next to him. She recognized the clothes as the ones he was wearing last night.  
His arm disappeared beneath the sleeping bag with the pants he had grabbed, and his head disappeared as well. As she watched the sleeping bag move while Ryu shuffled around inside it, she thought (So, he sleeps in just his underwear...). She shrugged. (To each his own, I suppose).  
She went over to the fridge Ryu had left out, and opened it, seeing what she could find for breakfast. She disappeared behind the door as she rummaged through it, moving objects around. She reappeared a moment later with a large container of oatmeal, and walked over to the portable kitchen that one of her bishies un-capsulized. She put a large pot on the stove after filling it with water, and set it to boil after pouring in a large amount of oatmeal. She jumped slightly when someone spoke behind her.  
"What are you doing with my oatmeal?"  
She turned to find Ryu leaning against one of the doorjambs, staring at her blearily. His hair jutted out in every direction, and he had several days' worth of stubble on his chin. She also noticed a slight smell wafting from him.  
"You look terrible. Didn't sleep well?"  
He yawned.  
"I've never been much of an outdoors person. Once I get enough cash, I'm going to buy a capsule house."  
"Well, until then, you can borrow my shower."  
She pulled out a capsule case, popped it open, and tossed him a single capsule.  
"You smell a little, and you could use a shave."  
He grinned as he rubbed his chin.  
"What, the rugged look doesn't appeal to you?"  
She snorted lightly.  
"Maybe it does. But the rugged smell doesn't. Now go bathe."  
He mock saluted her, turned, and walked over to his backpack, which was resting against one of the logs circling the fire place. Naomi went back to the oatmeal, stirring it a bit, then placing a lid over the pot. After a moment there was the sound of a capsule exploding, and the sound of a door opening. But not closing. Naomi looked up to see Ryu standing just outside the shower, a pair of clean clothes and a towel in one hand, a bathroom kit bag handing from his wrist, the door in the other hand, and a look of utter revulsion on his face. He turned slowly to look at her.  
"Why in the hell is everything in here pink?"  
She shrugged slightly.  
"That was the color it came in. If I had known it was pink, I would've asked for another."  
Ryu nodded, turned back to the bathroom, and with a little shudder, walked in, closing the door behind him.  
"He's a brave man."  
Naomi turned to see Sanosuke awake, leaning against the door jamb in almost the exact same position Ryu had been in a moment before. He was wearing his black pants, while his shirt was still lying next to his sleeping bag.  
"How so?"  
Sanosuke considered the bathroom a moment before answering Naomi's question.  
"Well, first and foremost, everything in there IS pink. And the only person who I've seen so far who's comfortable with that color is Kurama."  
Naomi nodded in affirmation.  
"And secondly, that place is haunted."  
It was stated in such a deadpan tone of truth that Naomi burst out laughing.  
"Sano, how many times do I have to tell you, that there are no ghosts in technology?!"  
"Yes there are! How else do you explain how those...THINGS do the stuff they do?!"  
"Hey Sano!"  
Sanosuke turned around to see who had called his name, temporarily forgetting his argument with Naomi. Naomi burst out laughing again as there was a click, flash, and a high pitched scream from Sanosuke.  
Kurama was awake, and his fox sense of play was showing through. Especially when Kurama had his camera in hand.  
Sano dove behind Naomi, crouching down so that she stood taller than him and effectively hiding him from view. Naomi laughed as Kurama put the camera away, and she stepped to the side, taking away Sano's hiding spot. He immediately tried to dive behind her again, but she seemed to turn to the left, back to the pot of oatmeal. He once again tried to dive behind her, but she crouched down, opening a cupboard and drawing forth a few bowls. Realizing that his hiding spot was moving around into the exact places that left him exposed, Sanosuke turned and fled. He ran over to the fire and hid behind Vash, who merely grunted slightly.  
Kurama chuckled slightly and greeted Naomi with a small smile. She smiled back and returned the greeting, and they broke into small talk as the oatmeal cooked. Meanwhile Vash finally woke up as Sano grabbed his shoulder and pulled him slightly to the left, bringing him more effectively into the line of sight between the portable kitchen and the fire. Vash blinked stupidly at Sano, who gave up as Vash stood up and stretched, and moved off into the trees. Sano stood up and walked back to his sleeping back to grab his shirt, since it was a bit chilly out. Of course, he took the long way around, keeping as much distance between himself and the portable kitchen as possible.  
Once Sano had retrieved his shirt and moved back to the fire, the oatmeal was done, and Naomi spooned it up into the bowls, and, with Kurama's help, carried it out to the others, passing the bowls around. As Naomi sat down on a log, the door to the bathroom opened and Ryu stepped out. He looked much better, his hair still damp and plastered to his head slightly, and his face clean shaven. He was wearing a short sleeved red shirt, which was revealed to have a gold dragon on the back when he turned around to close the door. His pants were a pair of gray jeans, which the shirt was tucked into, and he was barefoot.  
He looked over at the group sitting around the fire, and Naomi pointed at the kitchen. Ryu nodded and walked over, spooning up a healthy portion of oatmeal into the bowl left on the counter. But instead of walking over to join the rest of them, Ryu headed for his fridge, walking gingerly over the rough ground. He opened it, and pulled out a jar of crunchy peanut butter, butter, a jar of honey, and milk. He added healthy portions of each condiment to his bowl of oatmeal, stirred it altogether, and gave it a taste. Finding it to his liking, he placed the items back in the fridge, then walked over and claimed a seat on a rock.  
For a moment, he simply ate his oatmeal. He then noticed everyone staring at him, and looked up.  
"What?"  
They all shook their heads, except Gaara, who didn't bother with looking up from his food, and returned to their own oatmeal. Ryu shrugged and continued eating.  
For a while, there was silence as everyone ate their breakfast. Once they were done, the dishes were carried back to the kitchen, where Naomi got Vash to wash them, while she and the rest of her bishies went about their morning routines and breaking down the camp. Naomi also got permission from Ryu to grab some of his food. Soon they were done and she saw that Ryu and Gaara were also packed up, and getting ready to leave. Naomi called out to them, effectively stopping them from leaving.  
"Hang on guys!"  
They stopped and turned around, looking at her in inquiry.  
"Before we part ways, how about we battle?"  
Ryu glanced at Gaara who shrugged.  
"Alright. Obviously Gaara will be fighting for me. Who'll you have fighting for you?"  
"Kurama. Vash wouldn't be able to use his gun, and Sano would freak."  
"Oi, I would not freak!"  
While Naomi nodded at Sano in a 'yeah, sure' way, Ryu spoke quietly to Gaara.  
"Okay, Kurama, as far as I know, is pretty powerful, and he controls plants. Just watch out for it."  
Gaara nodded, grinning slightly, as he stepped forward. He stopped when Ryu grabbed his arm.  
"Listen Gaara, you can pull out if you want. I won't force you to battle."  
Gaara merely shook his head, before stepping forward.  
"I, Gaara, give my consent to battle for my trainer."  
Kurama stepped forward while everyone else moved back.  
"I, Kurama, give my consent to battle for my trainer."  
Ryu and Naomi quickly conferred on the betting amount, and then Naomi stepped forward.  
"BEGIN!!"  
Kurama ran a hand through his hair, drawing forth a rose. Gaara merely crossed his arms, his gourd uncorked.  
Kurama tensed as he sized Gaara up. Gaara had made no move to draw a weapon, or even get ready to defend himself. Kurama didn't know anything about Gaara, and his method of fighting, and he hoped Gaara didn't know about Kurama and his own fighting style.  
(Time to see what he knows...)  
Kurama raised his right hand, and sent energy into the rose, transforming it into his rose whip. Gaara's eyes widened slightly in surprise as Kurama suddenly shot forward, rose whip at the ready. Kurama noted Gaara's surprise, and was slightly relieved that Gaara didn't know about Kurama's abilities. But his relief was short lived when he saw Gaara still hadn't moved. Either Gaara was so surprised at Kurama's weapon that he froze, unlikely, or it didn't matter to Gaara what weapon Kurama drew forth.  
Kurama reached a point where he could attack with the rose whip, and he swung it out, aiming for Gaara's face, then adding a flick of his wrist to bring the whip back around to lash at Gaara's chest. What happened next made both attacks mute, and shocked Kurama.  
Sand poured forth from Gaara's uncorked gourd, and moved to intercept the whip, deflecting it easily. The sand then shot forward, toward Kurama, who rolled to the right to get out of its path, lashing out again at Gaara once he had rolled to his knees, aiming for the back of the other bishie's legs.  
The sand once again deflected the attack harmlessly, moving with incredible speed to protect Gaara before the whip came within three feet. Kurama decided on a different tactic, and quickly ran his left hand through his hair, as well as jumping back, away from the sand which had once again moved toward him. Kurama landed on his feet, and jumped to his right, the sand still pursuing him. As soon as he landed, he jumped away again, this time to the other side of the imaginary battlefield boundaries, the sand nearly catching him.  
Kurama looked at Gaara and the sand, and saw that more sand was pouring forth from Gaara's gourd to continue the pursuit of Kurama, while the rest of the sand was quickly returning, so as not to leave Gaara undefended.  
Kurama sent a portion of his power into the seed in his left hand, and quickly knelt down, placing the seed on the ground. He once again leaped away, the sand reaching his current location, and slid to a stop on landing, the sand leaving him alone for a moment. Instead, the sand slowly returned to Gaara, and disappeared inside his gourd.  
At some point Gaara's head had bowed slightly, hiding his eyes in shadow. Kurama took a moment to smell the air, trying to catch Gaara's sent and determine his emotions. The smell Kurama received was rather unexpected. Gaara's sent was masked rather well by the smell emanating from the sand that moved to protect Gaara, quite possibly independent of the binshonen's will.  
Blood.  
  
"What's up with that sand?"  
Ryu looked at Naomi out of the corner of his eye before answering Sanosuke's question.  
"It's what makes Gaara so powerful. In his world, it's called an 'absolute defense'. The sand moves on its own, independent of Gaara's will, to protect him from any attack."  
Naomi frowned as the information sank in, and her frown deepened as Sanosuke spoke up.  
"Hmph. I wouldn't have freaked. It's just a bunch of sand."  
"Sand which you could say is possessed by the spirits of the dead."  
Sanosuke blanched.  
"That sand is filled with the blood of all the people Gaara's killed."  
Naomi snapped her attention to Ryu, suddenly concerned. Ryu looked thoughtful as he watched Kurama once again lash at Gaara, then dance back as the sand tried to engulf him.  
"I don't think Gaara's ever killed anyone though. I think that the gourd, and the bloody sand, is all a part of his san stage."  
Naomi turned back to the battle, watching intently.  
  
Kurama leaped away from the sand that loomed over him, landing ten feet away and panting slightly. That sand was fast. Not quite as fast as Kurama, but close. And Kurama had yet to land one blow on Gaara. The sand deflected every attack he made, never mind the fact that Kurama's whip could cut through things like solid steal. Very irritating.  
Gaara raised his head, revealing his eyes from shadow, and stared at Kurama. Gaara's pupils had contracted to a much smaller size, and his eyes had become bloodshot. His mouth had opened slightly, and he was wheezing slightly. Kurama's eyes narrowed as he reached out with his power to gauge the progress of the seed he had planted on the ground.  
His eyebrows drew together, nearly forming a solid line of red on Kurama's forehead. Good. The plant that sprouted from the seed had spread all throughout the clearing.  
Kurama relaxed, and coiled his whip, placing his left hand in his pocket. Ignoring the slight looks of surprise from his trainer and fellow bishies, and the considering look on Ryu's face, Kurama gave the plant that now grew through the entire clearing a little more power, and guided it through its actions.  
Gaara closed his mouth, breathing heavily through his nose. The rush in his veins that always appeared when he fought was there, and Gaara fought it down. He looked at Kurama, considering what action the other was about to take.  
Gaara's eyes blinked in surprise as he heard a faint cracking sound. Then the sand in his gourd came alive as vines suddenly shot out of the ground directly underneath him and from the ground in a circle all around him. Gaara had a brief glimpse of the vines reaching a height equal to his waist in an instant, then everything was suddenly obscured in sand, and Gaara felt himself rise nearly half a foot into the air, supported on a small platform of sand.  
Kurama frowned as a dust cloud was kicked up around Gaara for a moment, obscuring the other bishie's fate. Then the dust cleared and Kurama felt his mouth open slightly in surprise.  
Gaara stood as he been throughout the entire fight, his arms crossed. His sand had once again protected him, forming a solid shell around him, blocking all the vines. Through a gaping hole in the shell where no vines had tried to attack Gaara was visible, supported on a slight mound of sand, protecting him from the vines that had sprouted directly beneath him. Kurama closed his mouth and sent a little more power down the plant, and vines shot for the largest gap in the shell. Sand suddenly flew up from the ground, forming another piece of shell and effortlessly stopping the vines.  
Gaara uncrossed his arms and the sand suddenly exploded outward, tearing the vines apart. The sand lay on the ground as a great amount of sand poured from Gaara's gourd and moved to attack Kurama. Kurama jumped out of the way, thinking quickly.  
(I can't attack him so long as the sand protects him. I have to immobilize the sand. But how?)  
Kurama's left foot touched the ground and he propelled himself into the air again, the sand shooting after him. But as Kurama's foot touched the ground, he suddenly realized how he could stop the sand.  
Kurama once again landed, but this time he did not jump away, despite the fact that the sand suddenly loomed over him, ready to engulf him. Instead, he uncoiled his whip, and lashed out, cutting deep into the sand and effectively scattering it all over the ground. Kurama then sent a large amount of his power into the ground, before leaping away as the sand once again rose up.  
Kurama then began a complex game of cat and mouse with the sand, always staying just out of reach, though at times he had to strain to do so. But every time he touched the ground, no matter how brief, he sent as much power into the ground as he could before he had to leap away again.  
This continued for several minutes until a loll in the dodging arrived when the sand left him alone for a moment. Kurama panted heavily. He had been using up his power, and was running low. He had to finish this quickly, or be forced to forfeit.  
Kurama turned to Gaara, who looked totally relaxed with only a slight sheen of sweat on his head, and rushed him, drawing back his whip. Gaara's eyes widened as Kurama once again went on the attack, but he didn't move, waiting for Kurama to reach him.  
  
On the sidelines, Ryu watched the battle, and listened as Kurama's party gave their support to the red haired bishonen in their own ways. Something was nagging at his mind. Kurama would not have dodged for so long without a reason. He was a smart, cunning, and ruthless fighter, who wouldn't need that long to come up with a plan. And with his plants, he had a wide variety of tools to use. And with Kurama suddenly charging Gaara, that meant that his plan was already in motion.  
Ryu just couldn't figure out what the plan was.  
In frustration he glanced down at the ground, and at Gaara's sand. And suddenly he realized what Kurama was doing. His head snapped up and he shouted out across the battlefield, surprising Naomi and her bishies.  
"Gaara, MOVE!!"  
Gaara glanced at Ryu in surprise, but before he could decide whether or not to follow Ryu's order and move, Kurama reached him and lashed out with his whip once again.  
And connected, snapping Gaara's head to his left, then pulling Gaara's upper body down when Kurama flicked his wrist and the whip snapped across Gaara's left shoulder and traveled down toward Gaara's right hip.  
A stunned silence encompassed the spectators as Kurama once again lashed out with his whip, wrapping it around Gaara's right leg, and sending him sprawling across the ground. Kurama pressed his advantage, lashing out at Gaara repeatedly.  
After a moment, Kurama relented, and Gaara climbed to his feet, his back facing Kurama. The last attack had spun Gaara around, and he had landed nearly face first onto the ground. Gaara turned around to face Kurama, and Kurama took a step back in surprise.  
It was a mix of things that made Kurama step back. One of them was the absolutely crazed grin on Gaara's features, and the single, pained wheeze he gave. Another was that Gaara was even able to stand at all. But the greatest thing that made Kurama back up was that Gaara's skin had cracked.  
Kurama stared, open mouthed, as every spot he had hit Gaara was now decorated with a network of cracks, like mud when it dried in the sun. Gaara's skin was slowly turning the same brown as the sand, and parts of his face fell away, turning into sand. Revealing normal, unmarked skin just beneath.  
"I see. You also cover yourself with an invisible layer of sand...Very creative. But..."  
Kurama once again lashed out, wrapping the whip around Gaara's throat and lifting him into the air, throwing him across the clearing.  
Gaara stood, and revealed his face, showing that he was once again unmarked. He was panting, and glaring at Kurama, but he was unmarked.  
Kurama too was panting, but he charged Gaara regardless, lashing out repeatedly with his whip, determined to break apart Gaara's sand armor. With each blow, the sand slowly chipped away. Even as it was repaired, Kurama struck out again, dealing further damage. At the pace he was going, Gaara's sand armor would soon be totally destroyed. Kurama ran a hand through his hair, gathering a seed, and prepared for the moment when Gaara's armor would finally be totally gone.  
Kurama dealt one lash blow to Gaara, the whip striking the boy on the left temple where the last of the sand was, and propelling him through the air to crash onto the ground. Kurama ran after him, using the last of his power to make the seed in his hand sprout.  
Gaara rolled over on the ground, lying on his stomach. He looked to the left and saw Kurama running at him. Gaara pushed himself up on his elbow, his energy low from repairing the sand armor through Kurama's assault, and shouted.  
"ENOUGH!"  
Gaara's left arm extending, his fingers crooked, and there was a sudden rumble from the ground. Kurama glanced down, and sand suddenly exploded upward, wrapping around his legs, then his arms and hands, prying the plants away, and finally around his neck and head, leaving only his face exposed. He felt himself rise into the air, Gaara's arm pointed right at Kurama's sand prison. Gaara panted, and stood up once again, lowering his arm. Kurama stayed in the air, surrounded by sand.  
  
Ryu breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried for several minutes.  
"This battle is over. Gaara wins."  
The other spectator's turned to him, Naomi clearly angry that he would make such a call. Ryu held up his hand stopping the outburst from her open mouth.  
"If this was a true fight, Kurama would have been crushed instantly by the sand the moment he was caught. That's how Gaara kills people in the series. He wraps them in sand, and then makes it crush them, killing them instantly before they can feel any pain. Or if you want, Gaara could cut off Kurama's air until he passes out?"  
Naomi opened her mouth to protest, but then thought about the situation, and nodded. Gaara lowered the sand to the ground, and it fell away, revealing Kurama, who sat down in relief, taking huge breaths. Gaara joined him on the ground, also panting heavily, as the other bishies and the two trainers ran over.  
General sayings of 'good fight' and 'nice moves' abounded, with a few critiquing sayings such as 'well next time you know.' The trainers both looked over their respective bishies, examining them to make sure they were alright. Both were revealed to be merely tired, and uninjured.  
"One thing I don't get though, why didn't Gaara's sand protect him?"  
Ryu looked at Naomi, and then glanced at Kurama and Gaara, seeing if either of them would like to explain. Gaara looked interested, not knowing how Kurama stopped his sand, while Kurama merely shrugged, too tired to explain. Ryu spoke.  
"Kurama used the vine to hold the sand in place."  
Naomi looked at him and raised an eyebrow.  
"Hmm...how do I...ah. Do you know why plants are so important for when a flood comes? Or strong winds?"  
There were general expressions of both realization and confusion, so Ryu elaborated.  
"Plants are the most important thing when a flood or wind comes because they hold down the soil. If there are no plants, the soil is free to move around. That's how such things as dust storms come into existence. There aren't any plant roots to hold down the soil. Kurama just used that principle to hold the sand in place, allowing him to attack Gaara. He had already planted the vine, as we saw, for when he sprung his surprise attack on Gaara. That didn't work, so, he used the plant for something else."  
Ryu looked at Kurama.  
"Right?"  
Kurama nodded, still breathing heavily. Naomi noticed his condition, and held up Kurama's bishball. He grimaced in distaste, but saw the wisdom in the idea, and vanished into the ball. Ryu followed suit, but he merely held the ball up, and let Gaara decide what to do. Gaara merely glanced at the ball, and then stubbornly stood up. Ryu shrugged, and replaced the ball on his belt. Naomi grinned.  
"Heh. Quite the Bishonen you've got there."  
She handed over a pouch, which Ryu pocketed, and he grinned back, extending his hand.  
"Yours aren't too shabby either. 'Till we meet again Naomi."  
They shook hands, and suddenly everyone was grinning, even Gaara. Though his grin looked slightly like a scowl, everyone could see it in his eyes.  
The two trainers nodded at each other, then walked in opposite directions.  
  
:Author's Notes:  
  
So, what'd you think? Was it good, bad? Was the fight interesting, or do I need to work on it? 


	5. Chapter 4: Bishonen 2 and 3, Welcome Ab...

Chapter 4: Bishonen 2 and 3, Welcome Aboard.  
  
There hadn't been much Ryu wanted out of life. A college diploma from a so-so college, a good looking and good natured wife who would respect his wishes, enough money coming in each month to support them at a relatively laid back life style, the chance to have his parents wiped from the face of the Earth, a government that could do more than screw up, maybe a few other things.  
Right now, all he wanted was to see an end to these damn trees. And to be able to kill that damned blue jay that had been following them for at least three days. Oh, how he hated that blue jay...  
Ryu nearly tripped over a root that jutted out of the ground, and he cursed under his breath. God, where was pavement when you needed it? Seemed the stuff was never around when you truly wanted it there. Ryu glanced around at the woods, feeling his city bread instincts scream at him. He really wasn't an outdoors person. He growled as his foot snagged on another root, and he nearly fell face first onto the ground.  
Finally having enough, Ryu stopped, and sank down to the ground, leaning back against a tree. He pulled a water bottle out of his pack, and took a few gulps before offering a different bottle to Gaara, who took the bottle without a word. For a minute, Ryu just sat there, letting himself calm down. Once he felt calm enough to continue without lighting the woods on fire, he started to stand. Halfway to his feet, he stopped, and cocked his head to the side. For a moment he listened intently to the woods around. Gaara, seeing his trainer's behavior, stayed silent. Not that it made a big difference, since Gaara rarely spoke, and then, only when spoken too.  
(Huh...Coulda sworn I heard...)  
His head gave a small twitch as he caught the sound again, and fully stood up. He turned to his right, and walked off into the underbrush, trying to be quiet. For the most part he succeeded, but Gaara moved after him like a red haired ghost. After a few minutes, in which the sounds of a fight grew louder, Ryu came to a stop inside a bush that had been hollowed out by something. Ryu crouched down and moved a branch gently aside, letting him and Gaara see into a small clearing on the other side of the bush.  
Two bishonen warily circled each other. One was armed with a staff, and was wearing a red and gold tunic over a short sleeved white shirt, and yellow pants. He had black hair that stuck out under a green and yellow bandana, and leather gloves on both hands, as well as, of all things, pointy shoes. The other was armed with a katana, and wearing a turquoise, sleeveless coat, with a thick, black tank top on underneath, and tan pants, which were tucked into a pair of sturdy boots. He had long, vibrant red hair that jutted out everywhere in spikes, and was kept out of his eyes by a white headband.  
Ryu grinned. It wasn't a particularly nice grin. More like one you'd see on a Kyo just before he fought a Yuki. It had a definite feral cast to it. Ryu grabbed two bishballs from his belt, and glanced at Gaara. Gaara, who had been studying his trainer from the corner of his eye, merely nodded, his gourd already uncorked. Sand started to creep into the clearing, moving slowly toward the two bishonen.  
The two broke their standoff, and attacked. Their perspective weapons wove shields before themselves, which the other couldn't penetrate. Finally they broke apart, circling each other. All the while the sand slowly encircled them. Neither noticed, so intent they were on the other. They both tensed and Ryu gave the slightest nod.  
Sand suddenly shot up from the ground, and wrapped around both bishonens legs, earning startled yells from them both. As they looked down at the sand encircling their legs, Ryu stood up, still grinning, and threw the two bishballs in his right hand. The balls flew true, striking each bishonen in the chest, then bouncing onto the ground. The two bishonen struggled against the sand, but they were sucked into their respective bishballs.  
Ryu walked forward, and picked up the bishballs, one in each hand. He held them up, about chest height.  
"Come on out guys."  
Two beams of light shot out, and grew to form the two newly captured bishonen. The one with red hair had sheathed his sword, and the one with the staff let it rest, one end against the ground. They both looked at Ryu contemplatively for a moment, and then looked at Gaara, sizing him up. Ryu pulled out his dex, opened it, and pointed it at one of the bishonen.  
"Name: McDohl. Stage: San. Nickname: ?"  
"No nickname."  
Ryu then pointed the dex at the other bishonen.  
"Name: Crono. Stage: San. Nickname: ?"  
"No nickname."  
The dex beeped in acknowledgement, and Ryu put it away. He then studied the two newly captured bishies, grinning slightly. Gaara too sized up the bishonen, gauging their strengths and weaknesses. He turned his head slightly in inquiry to Ryu, who shrugged and spoke.  
"Their names are Crono, and McDohl, and they're both the main characters in two of the greater games. Chrono Trigger", Ryu nodded at Crono, "and Suikoden." He nodded at McDohl.  
"So, you're our new trainer. Sigh; at the very least we're not your first capture."  
Ryu grinned at Crono.  
"True. But, you two are my second capture. Sorry to burst your bubble."  
McDohl sighed, and Ryu heard him mutter 'newbie'. Ryu just grinned at him. Then he remembered something that made the grin fade. He had offered Gaara a choice to leave. Gaara had decided to stay. These two deserved the chance to make a choice. Ryu put the two bishballs in his belt, feeling the elation disappear slightly. He sighed, and leaned back against a nearby tree, drawing Gaara's attention.  
"Tell the two of you what. I'll only keep you captured for a week. After that, if you still want to go, I'll walk right out to the woods and release you. And if you're willing to wait a few days, I'll do my best to bring you back to this very clearing and release you here. In return, just give me a chance; see if you want to travel with me. Deal?"  
They stared at him in shock, while Gaara merely looked on. He too had had trouble figuring out why a trainer would go so far out of his or her way to help the bishonen that they captured. In the end, he had merely accepted the deal, thinking to leave the first chance he got.  
McDohl looked puzzled as he spoke.  
"Why would you release us? It was a fair capture, using the resources at your disposal."  
"The word fair should never be used in the same sentence as the word capture. I have enough of a problem with authority without becoming like so many authority figures back in the old world. I will NOT take people away from their homes against their will."  
Both Crono and McDohl seemed surprised by Ryu's opinion on the matter. For a moment, they both studied Ryu. Then they both nodded, and Crono spoke.  
"All right. We'll travel with you for one week. Give you a chance."  
Ryu grinned.  
"Can't ask for more. So, any idea where the nearest human habitation is? I'm dying for some real food."  
Crono chuckled while McDohl pointed.  
"About an hour and a half of a walk, we'll hit the nearby town, or city I suppose, called Draglock."  
Ryu's eyebrows rose.  
"The two of you were fighting an hour and a half from the nearest city and didn't expect to be captured?"  
They both grinned sheepishly, and shrugged. Ryu shook his head and they all walked in the direction McDohl had pointed them.  
  
Not soon after they had left the small clearing did another person enter it. She came from a bush two to the left of the one Ryu had hid behind. She looked to be in her middle teens, had long blond hair tied back in a pony tail, and was dressed in a white shirt that left her shoulder's bare, and white pants. A crossbow was collapsed, and placed in its holster at her side, ready for a quick, easy draw. She looked in the direction that Ryu and his bishonen had gone, then, with a small smile, she moved after them, disappearing in the trees.  
  
Ryu came to a stop when the trees ended, feeling relief at finally being out of the woods. He turned off his headphones, which had been playing Evanescence, and put them away, walking toward the city gate with his bishonen. At the gate, the guard once again held out his hand for Ryu's dex. Scowling the entire time, Ryu slung his backpack off, crouched and set the backpack on the ground, and unzipped one of the pockets. He reached in, and withdrew his dex, handing it to the guard as he stood up. The guard looked over the dex, then handed it back and let them pass. As Ryu walked through the gates, he slipped the dex back into the backpack, and swung the pack on.  
"Hmm...Hotel first, then we can explore. Any preferences?"  
Crono immediately piped up.  
"Some place that has good food, and isn't little more than a shack."  
McDohl nodded, and Gaara just shrugged.  
"Alright...let's see..."  
Ryu walked deeper into the town, stopping the occasional passerby for directions to a nearby hotel. After nearly a half hour, they found a hotel, and entered. The clerk looked up at their entrance, and nodded in greeting. Ryu nodded in return and walked forward to get a room, leaving his bishonen to their own devices. Gaara merely stood nearby, gazing at the wall without seeing it. Crono looked around the lobby with interest, and McDohl found an item on the receptionist's desk that was apparently fascinating. He picked it up, and turned it over in his hands, his staff resting against the crook of his neck.  
Ryu figured he had better conserve his money, so he got a room with only two beds, making sure they were large enough for two people apiece. The clerk assured him that the beds in the room were large enough, and handed over a key, and told Ryu what the room number was. Ryu nodded, and turned to leave, and spotted McDohl. Ryu grinned slightly as he reached out and took the object, and showed McDohl how to use it once, then handed it back. He then walked on toward the room, McDohl clicking the object a few times. He then noticed that Ryu and the others were getting farther away, and he put the stapler back on the desk, and hurried after them.  
  
Ryu unlocked and opened the door, looking around the room. It was a good sized room, with two large beds, a bathroom, small kitchen, and a TV. There was a couch, and a chair facing the TV. He walked in and dropped his pack near one of the beds. He rummaged through it for a change of clothes, and his bathroom kit, then headed for the bathroom for a much anticipated shower, leaving his bishonen to their own devices.  
McDohl headed for the small kitchen, examining the small wealth of technology. Gaara merely un-strapped his gourd and dropped it into the chair. He climbed onto one of the beds and leaned back against the headboard. Crono grabbed the remote to the TV, and started channel surfing, seeing what was on. He sank onto the couch, his sword in the chair alongside Gaara's gourd. He glanced at Gaara.  
"Any preference on what to watch?"  
Gaara merely shrugged, so Crono picked something that looked interest, and put the remote down. The sounds of the TV brought in McDohl, who climbed onto the other bed, staring at the TV screen, his staff resting against the wall outside the kitchen.  
Gaara, though he appeared calm, was filled with conflicting emotions, not all of which he understood or could identify. Back in his village, he had been shunned, and regarded with fear and distaste by most. Only a few people accepted him, among them his mother and the Naruto he went to for help. Overall, his chibi stage had been a hard time for him, with the san stage merely getting harder as his abilities started to come to the fore. Yet, he sat here, with two other people who didn't fear him. One of them even asked if he had a preference about what to watch. And then the fourth member of their party. Their trainer. He had offered to let Gaara go, given him a choice when most trainers would've dragged Gaara away by the ear if he hadn't left his life behind willingly. One emotion welled up more than the others, and Gaara decided he liked the emotion. He settled in to watch the TV.  
After nearly half an hour, Ryu walked out of the bathroom, feeling much better now that he was clean. He had donned a white T-Shirt, and a pair of gray sweats, and was barefoot at the moment. He had simply combed his hair back, which was still rather damp. As he walked toward his pack to return his bathroom kit, he glanced at the TV to see what they were watching.  
"Ranma ½ huh?"  
Crono nodded without taking his eyes off the screen, watching as Ranma was pounded into the ground by his mob of fiancés for some reason that Ryu didn't know. It wasn't an episode he had seen.  
"Well, how about we go get some food? I'm starving."  
Crono finally turned his attention from the screen.  
"Why not have room service?"  
Ryu blinked.  
"Didn't think of that. Well, alright, what do you guys want?"  
After finding out what they wanted Ryu walked over to the phone to order it. After picking up the phone, he glanced at the bishonen staring avidly at the screen, and couldn't help a chuckle. (Heh. Just like normal teenagers.)  
The food arrived a few minutes later, just as Ryoga and Mouse appeared. Ryu felt somewhat sorry for Ranma.  
  
:Several Hours Later:  
  
Crono eventually gave in to the call of sleep, and laid out on the couch, his head cushioned on a pillow. He was second place in an unspoken contest. To see who could stay awake the longest.  
Ryu glanced over at Crono and smirked slightly. (Amateur). He glanced at the clock. 1:37 am. Ryu picked up the remote, grabbed the box of soda, and settled in changing channels to find something he felt like watching. He enjoyed anime, but he felt like watching some live action. Something like...  
He pushed the button once again, and the screen changed. He grinned, and set the remote down, grabbed a soda, and settled in.  
...Resident Evil.  
  
:The Next Morning:  
  
Someone was prodding him in the back. He groaned and weakly swatted at their hand. After a moment, the prodding resumed. He groaned again and moved over in the bed, away from that damned prodding. He felt the bed shift underneath him, and the prodding began anew. He groaned once again, grabbed his pillow, and swung it behind him, into the person's face. The prodding vanished. (Damn, I feel like crap...That's it, no more late nighters with that much soda and a horror flick...). He DID feel bad. His stomach was protesting loudly, and his mouth tasted foul. And his head was hurting. Apparently he had drunk too much soda, and dehydrated himself.  
There was a sudden presence in the small of his back, quite a bit wider than a finger, and he was about to turn around and scream at whoever kept trying to wake him up. Or throw up on them, which ever happened first. Before he start to turn over, the object in his back suddenly pushed and he felt himself slide off the side of the bed to crash onto the floor. This was supposed to wake him up, but he suddenly realized how comfortable the carpet was, and simply reached up to grab the blankets that he had left behind on the bed, and a pillow. He pulled them down onto the floor with him, and proceeded to become comfortable. He then ignored the voices, and went about falling asleep.  
"This isn't working. Any other ideas?"  
"I've got one, but he won't like it. Why are we doing this again?"  
"You DO want to get to the gym right?"  
A pause.  
"Then wake him up, so we can go."  
"Alright." Another pause. "Stand back. Further Gaara, this water is cold."  
That last statement caused him to groan in protest. Not cold. He was nice and warm. Not-  
"COLD!! JESUS, THAT'S COLD!! WHO IN THE HE-"  
Ryu shot upright, out of the wet blankets to face his assailants. Crono stood there, grinning, an empty bucket in hand. McDohl stood off to one side, his staff in hand, and Gaara stood over near the wall, having backed up there at Crono's urging. McDohl tossed Ryu a change of clothes, which Ryu grabbed as he sank down onto the bed, blinking blearily.  
"Is there a reason you decided to wake me up at..." He checked the bedside clock. "5:30?!"  
"Yeah, the gym in this city opens at 6:00. And last night you said we'd go to the gym."  
Ryu glared blearily at the three of them, realizing that he had, indeed, told them they'd go to the gym today.  
"I meant in the afternoon."  
McDohl and Crono blinked. Crono put the bucket down.  
"Oh."  
Then, in a sickeningly happy voice, he continued.  
"Well, you're awake, let's go!"  
Ryu growled under his breath as he pulled on the pair of dry clothes, and followed all three bishonen out of the room.  
(I swear, I'm going to kill the next person who wakes me up with ice cold water. Slowly.)  
  
Ryu stood outside the gym, slightly surprised by the buildings sheer size. This was a building that could host the Super Bowl comfortably. He shrugged, and opened the door, stepping inside what appeared to be the lobby of another office building. There was the standard compliment of a receptionist desk, and waiting couches. He spotted a pair of doors with the familiar bathroom signs. Ryu walked up to the desk, his bishonen following, and the person behind the desk snapped out of a light doze and looked at them in surprise.  
"What are you all doing here?"  
Ryu, still annoyed and feeling a little sick, snapped back.  
"We're here to use the gym."  
The man behind the desk looked a little taken aback at Ryu's tone, and he responded angrily.  
"Then you're very early. They gym doesn't open until 7:00."  
Ryu stiffened. He glanced at the wall clock, which red 5:53. He then slowly turned to glare at Crono who was smiling sheepishly. And backing away slightly.  
"Oops?"  
Ryu glared at Crono for a moment, then turned back to the counter. Crono breathed a sigh of relief. McDohl leaned over and whispered in Crono's ear.  
"Told you check the gym times."  
They returned their attention to the desk where Ryu was inquiring about a place to eat.  
"Sorry about snapping. I'm not a morning person."  
The man nodded in understanding.  
"Could you tell us where there's a restaurant open at this time in the morning?"  
"Yes. A block from here, there's a restaurant that's open at all hours. They serve pretty good food. Just look for the sign with the cat on it."  
Ryu nodded, turned, and walked out of the gym. His bishonen followed after them, and the receptionist fell back into his doze, waiting for seven to come around.  
  
Ryu leaned back in his chair, feeling immensely better. He still had a slight headache, but it was rapidly disappearing now that he had drunk a healthy amount of water. And his stomach had stopped complaining the moment he started eating. He still needed a shower, but that could wait a little while. He checked the wall clock of the restaurant: 6:52. He was surprised that it had taken so little time to get their food and eat. He glanced at the bishonen. They had all finished their own food, and were now relaxing.  
"Time to go guys."  
They looked up, then glanced at the clock, and nodded. They all stood up, and Ryu quickly paid the bill, leaving a tip, before leaving.  
They arrived at the gym with a minute or two to spare, and quickly entered, finding the receptionist awake. He nodded at them as they entered and moved toward a couch to wait. Soon a chime sounded, and the receptionist called over to them.  
"The gym is now open."  
They stood and moved through the large double doors into what Ryu could only dub a huge room. Their footsteps echoed slightly as they walked. Ryu glanced around the room once, and reasoned that they were in a room that was a general workout room. They had punching bags, weight lifting equipment, and what appeared to be a short sprinting track. As a group, they walked over to the weights where the bishonen examined them.  
Crono crouched down and prodded one weight. It was about six inches across, and an inch thick, and had the number 10 on it. He looked at Ryu in inquiry.  
"These are weights. You lift them to increase your strength. There are a variety of ways to do it, each way increasing a different set of muscles."  
Ryu glanced down, trying to remember the different exercises from his weight training class he had taken as a freshman in high school.  
"Hey, I'll be back in a minute. Go ahead and exercise, or whatever you guys do."  
He turned and walked away, not noticing the bishies nods. Once out of the room, he headed for the bathroom, where he relieved himself, and splashed a little warm water on his face after washing his hands.  
When he left the bathroom, he saw that the receptionist had disappeared somewhere, and a small group was waiting for him to return. Seemed that the group's trainer, and one of her bishonen, a Sanosuke, was having a bit of an argument.  
"Missy, what exactly is the point of dragging us down here this early when we can't even get in?"  
"Listen, Rooster Head, it was your idea to wake up early today, and it was you who dragged us down here. I, for one, would've liked to stay in bed a bit longer. And I'm going to take you to the hospital, make sure you're alright."  
She turned back toward the desk, checking if the receptionist was back. Sanosuke's arms came out of his pockets, and his eyebrows started twitching in annoyance.  
"Rooster Head?! Missy, that was uncalled for! And why are you taking me to the hospital?"  
Sanosuke crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at his trainer, while she glared up at him.  
"I'm taking you to the hospital because you were so eager to get down here. You're rarely eager to get to a gym, and you're NEVER eager to get up before 10!"  
"Geez Missy, and here I thought you'd want to get to the gym first thing."  
One of the girl's eye brows rose.  
"Sanosuke, were you trying to help? Without me asking?"  
He snorted.  
"Don't push your luck Missy. I just wanted to get down here before you started whining."  
Ryu looked over their little group, tuning out the bickering trainer and bishonen. There was a Heero, who looked like he had stepped out of the movie Endless Waltz, dressed in a green tank top, blue jeans, and boots, with a jacket slung over one shoulder, a Kenshin who appeared to have stepped from the OVA, and another bishonen Ryu didn't know, with a blue hat and blue hair, the bangs of which were defying gravity, and a scar over one of his eyes, a staff in hand. Then there was the Sanosuke. He too looked like he had stepped straight from the series, dressed in his normal white outfit, complete with the 'wicked' symbol on the back, and the red headband. He did indeed have the 'Rooster Head' appearance, with his gravity defying hair. The trainer was a girl about five feet tall, with dark brown hair that was slightly curly and reached just past her shoulders. Ryu tuned back into their bickering just in time to here the girls retort.  
"Oh shut up, Fluffy."  
The Sanosuke pouted slightly at apparently being beaten.  
Ryu stepped forward to get a look at the map of the gym, seeing that they had the room he had already entered, as well as two others, one for official fighting, and another for more advanced training. He considered the sign for a moment before being distracted by the trainer as she smacked her bishonen on the back of the head.  
"ACK, Missy!"  
Ryu blinked, but returned to his considerations as he headed for the gym interior, but not before muttering something.  
"Ah, Marriage. The death of every man's freedom."  
Apparently he didn't mutter quietly enough as the Sanosuke turned toward him.  
"What was that?"  
Ryu blinked as he looked the Sanosuke in the eyes. After a moment, he shrugged.  
"I said 'Ah, Marriage. The death of every man's freedom.'"  
"Oi, punk, I'm not married to her..."  
"Sano, be nice."  
The bishonen quieted, and Ryu raised an eyebrow.  
"You may not be married to her, but you're whipped as if you were."  
The bishonen with the blue hat spoke up.  
"Anya-dono? What's he mean by 'whipped'?"  
The girl, Anya, shrugged a little with a light blush on her face.  
"I'll explain later Chiri."  
She turned her attention to Ryu.  
"Hello." Ryu nodded at her before she continued. "My names Anya. This is Chichiri," She gestured to the blue haired bishonen, "Heero," Heero gave a nod to Ryu, who returned it, "Kenshin," Kenshin also gave a nod, which Ryu also returned, "and the chicken headed oaf is Sanosuke."  
Sanosuke grumbled at his introduction but stayed quiet, eyeing Ryu distastefully.  
"My names Ryu."  
Ryu turned to walk back into the exercise room when the receptionist walked briskly out of the door, spotted Ryu, and marched up to him with a determined expression. Ryu merely eyed the man as he approached warily, with a slight sense of foreboding. The man came up to Ryu.  
"Sir, I'm afraid that there is a slight problem being caused by your bishonen."  
Ryu shrugged, and walked toward the door, preparing himself to sort it out, whatever it was. The man followed, as did Anya and her bishonen.  
"And Sir, I expect any damages they do to be fully paid for."  
"Eh?" As Ryu spoke he reached the door and opened it, walking through into the gym. "How bad can it...be...? What in the hell?!"  
Ryu surveyed the scene before him.  
It seemed that he hadn't explained the reason of the weights enough to the bishonen, who had filled in the gaps as they saw fit. McDohl had picked up one of the weight lifting bars, and was using it as a replacement for his usual staff, thinking it a training weapon. Crono, not seeing any training swords, had drawn his own, and was now sparring with McDohl. Ryu winced as he noticed the deep grooves that Crono's sword left in the weight lifting bar.  
The strangest one of all, though, was Gaara. He seemed to have taken Ryu's explanation of 'You lift them to increase your strength' too literally. Which meant the higher you lift them, the greater the increase. The only problem was that Gaara had chosen a unique way to lift them that had nothing to do with him arms.  
What Ryu assumed was every weight in the room was hovering up near the ceiling, supported by Gaara's sand, while Gaara himself stood in the center of the room with his arms crossed over his chest. Ryu wasn't sure, but he thought that Gaara looked immensely pleased with himself.  
  
Anya couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped at the sight of the other trainer's bishonen. She watched as he groaned and walked into the room, calling out to the bishonen.  
"Gaara, please put those weights back GENTLY! Crono, McDohl, STOP!"  
The three bishonen did what Ryu wanted and he walked over to McDohl, and took the weight lifting bar from him.  
  
Ryu groaned again as he saw the extent of the damage done to the bar. Its entire surface was marred with scratches, and it had been nearly cut all the way through in nearly a dozen places. It clearly had to be replaced as it would not be safe to use as a weight lifting bar anymore.  
"Okay, we'll be heading up to the second floor guys. There, you can just spar, and I won't have to worry about what you can do as much."  
The three bishonen nodded, and headed for the staircase, Gaara having put the weights back. Ryu breathed a sigh of relief, and walked over to the receptionist. Ryu held out the bar, which the man took.  
"That's the only thing I know that has to be replaced. I'll be upstairs helping them train, and when we leave, I'll pay for the damages. If you find anything, let me know then."  
The man nodded with Ryu's proposal, and walked out of the room, the bar in hand. Ryu turned to follow after the bishonen. It took him a moment to realize that Anya had fallen into step beside him, and her bishonen were following. Ryu felt a brief flash of annoyance, but shrugged it off.  
Once in the training room, Ryu headed over to the three bishonen who were doing their basic warm-ups. Or at least Crono and McDohl were. Gaara had just picked a random spot on the ground, and sat down, idly watching the other two warm-up.  
Anya once again followed him over to watch the three bishonen, while her own went through their warm-ups.  
"So, want to battle?"  
The question caught Ryu slightly by surprise.  
"What? Hmm...Maybe. Who are you going to use?"  
Anya answered immediately.  
"Kenshin. He needs some more training, and he's the only san I've got at the moment."  
Ryu nodded, and considered the bishonen.  
"Hey Crono."  
The red haired bishonen looked up from his crouch.  
"Do you feel up for a battle? He's got red hair, and a katana, like you. No magic though."  
Crono considered for a moment, then nodded, coming out of his crouch, and retrieving his sword. Anya nodded, a smile on her face, as she turned and jogged over to her bishonen. Ryu watched her jog over, considering the way she acted. She used the terminology that implied that she owned the bishonen. But she acted, and they acted, like they were the greatest of friends, and they all stood as equals. Ryu shrugged as he turned away, with one last thought of (Nice ass.). He walked over to Crono to give him some info about the bishonen he would be fighting.  
  
Anya jogged over to her bishonen, and walked up to Kenshin. He was standing next to Heero, both wrapped about in a comfortable silence. Both Kenshin and Heero looked up when Anya approached.  
"Kenshin, I've arranged for the battle you wanted."  
"Really Anya-dono? Against whom?"  
The rest of her bishonen listened as Anya spoke.  
"It's against Ryu's Crono, the red haired guy with the katana."  
Kenshin nodded, and started walking toward the other group, who was doing the same. Anya and her bishonen followed. Once the two groups reached the middle of the room, separated by about twenty feet, Kenshin stepped forward, as did the other team's bishonen, Crono.  
"I give consent to battle for my trainer."  
"I give consent to battle for my trainer."  
Ryu walked around the two bishonen, giving them a wide birth, as Anya did the same. They quickly conferred on the betting amount, then Anya stepped forward.  
"Begin!!"  
The two bishonen rocketed forward, each drawing their sword, and bringing them together with a speed Anya hadn't expected. She knew Kenshin was fast, but Crono also had speed. Not as fast as Kenshin, but he was fast. For a moment, the two pressed their blades against each other in a contest of strength before they both disengaged, only to bring their swords together again. Soon they were both defending and attacking, sounds not unlike chimes coming out whenever their swords struck.  
  
Crono parried another blow, and brought his sword up to stop another downward slash from the Kenshin. Shock traveled up Crono's arms as Kenshin's sword met Crono's, and he bent at the knees slightly to absorb the force. Crono shoved at the blades, and Kenshin fell away, landing lightly on his feet.  
Crono ran for Kenshin, slashing at his left side, followed with a slash to Kenshin's right leg, as Kenshin turned the first slash aside, and blocked the second. Crono leaned back as Kenshin shoved Crono's sword aside, and then lunged, aiming for just below Crono's ribs in an attempt to drive the air from Crono's lungs. Crono felt the sword lightly graze his chest, catching slightly on the fabric of his coat and shirt, as he reached behind him with his left hand, holding his sword in his right, to catch himself as he over balanced. Once his hand met the ground, fingers splayed wide, his elbow bent slightly, and Crono saw that Kenshin had over extended himself in his lunge, leaving his sides completely open. Crono swung his sword into Kenshin's left side with all the force he could muster one handed. Kenshin folded slightly as the magically blunted blade pressed into his side, and Crono spun the best he could on the ground, adding enough force to throw Kenshin a good seven feet away, where the other bishonen rolled away to gain more room to recover.  
Crono climbed to his feet, as did Kenshin, and they eyed each other warily. Kenshin assessed the damage done to his side as best he could, and found that he couldn't take a few more blows like that one. Kenshin sheathed his sword, and assumed a battou stance. Crono's brow's knit together in concentration as he tried to figure out what Kenshin was doing. The stance was foreign to him, and Crono didn't want to find out why Kenshin was using such a stance.  
Before Crono could formulate a plan of action, Kenshin shot forward fast enough to blur, even to Crono. Crono's eyes widened in surprise as he focused on Kenshin, and was able to discern the other bishonen drawing his sword, and aiming a blow at Crono's right side. Crono grasped his sword in his left hand, and placed it to block the strike barely in time, bracing the sword with his right arm.  
Unnoticed to either bishonen, a crack appeared in Crono's sword.  
Crono heaved at the blade and managed to turn it aside, letting Kenshin fall forward into the space occupied by Crono, as he fell to the side, unbalanced. Kenshin recovered first, bringing a slash down at Crono's left shoulder. Crono, who had just fallen to a knee, swung his sword up to block, standing as he did so. For a moment, the blades stayed locked in place. Then Crono's was forced back as his awkward position didn't allow him to apply enough force. But Crono started grinning.  
Kenshin, seeing the other's grin, started to pull away. But Crono suddenly spun his body, shoving Kenshin's sword aside, and continued to spin, holding his sword out at full extension, and picking up a great deal of speed. Kenshin, unbalanced, fell forward. He tried to recover and throw himself aside, but Crono's sword came around before he could do so, and hit his ribcage, driving the air from Kenshin's lungs. Kenshin's eyes widened as Crono still spun, fast enough to hit Kenshin at least seven more times before Kenshin was thrown twenty feet away from the force of the blows.  
  
On the sidelines Ryu's eyes widened as he saw Crono spin.  
"That's his Whirl technique...but when did he start using it like the Kaiten?"  
Anya turned to him.  
"What?"  
Ryu explained, keeping his eyes on the battle as Kenshin and Crono once again met, circling each other and trading slashes and parries.  
"Kaiten is a move from the anime Naruto. One of the characters expels energy from his entire body, then spins like a top. What Crono just did is his first special attack, aptly named 'Whirl'. Somewhere, though, he figured out how to apply it defensively, using it like the Kaiten."  
A voice suddenly spoke behind them, and they both turned in surprise to see Sanosuke standing behind Anya, and watching the fight.  
"He spins, canceling out all attacks, turning them aside. The opponent, suddenly overbalanced, falls forward, allowing the defender to keep spinning at high speed, attacking them repeatedly, before finally throwing them away. Pretty good defense. Even if you came at him from all sides, he'd still block, and not even take a scratch. I think the only way to beat it is to hit him at high speed, stop him before he starts to spin."  
Ryu nodded, as he turned his attention back to the fight.  
  
Kenshin stood on shaky knees. After Crono had used that spinning technique, Kenshin had taken too much damage to fight as he normally did. As it was, he was putting everything he had to keep up with Crono.  
Crono, on the other hand, had to applaud Kenshin. Crono was breathing heavily, but he hadn't been able to hit Kenshin again. In fact, Crono gingerly flexed his left arm, feeling the muscle protest slightly from where Kenshin's last attack hit. While Crono hadn't been able to hit Kenshin, the other bishonen had tagged him a few times.  
Kenshin took a deep breath as he prepared for another special technique. He had to stop this fight soon, or risk simply collapsing.  
Kenshin ran at Crono, who steadied himself, preparing to defend against Kenshin's assault. Kenshin leaped into the air, and tucked himself into a ball, his sword still jutting out, then started to spin. Crono's eyes widened as he changed his defensive tactic, and started to spin himself. The two met with a crash, and Crono was slammed into the ground, creating a large dust cloud, while Kenshin was thrown into the air, to land several feet away.  
  
A stunned silence filled the air as the audience stared. For the first time, Ryu realized that the two battling bishies had drawn a crowd. His attention turned back to the fight as one of the bishonen climbed to his feet.  
  
Kenshin's legs shook even more as he stood, and he was forced to use his sword as an aid to stay up right. He slowly made his way over to the dust cloud that had swallowed Crono. When Kenshin reached the cloud of dust, it had cleared slightly, and Kenshin saw a piece of turquoise fabric lying on the ground. He breathed a sigh of relief, turned, and started to walk away, back toward Anya. He noticed the small crowd that had gathered.  
That crowd almost saved him.  
The crowd gasped, staring to behind Kenshin, and he turned around to see Crono running at him, not wearing his turquoise coat. Crono's sword was at the ready, and he leaped into the air, and brought his sword down, aiming at Kenshin's head, with a yell of exertion.  
Kenshin raised his own sword to block, but in his surprise, he leaned back farther than he meant to. Kenshin's sword met Crono's much higher than Kenshin meant too, and both bishonens eyes widened as there was a 'CRACK' and Crono's sword broke, the tip of the blade flying free. Kenshin swung his own sword at Crono, hitting him in the side, and sending him flying, but not before the shorter remains of Crono's sword connected with Kenshin's shoulder, knocking the bishonen to the ground.  
  
Anya and Ryu ran to their respective bishonen to see if they were alright. When Anya knelt next to Kenshin, she saw that he was unconscious, and would be covered with bruises, but he would be alright. She looked over to Ryu to see that he had reached Crono, who was holding his hand up weakly in a victory sign. Anya sighed in relief. Chichiri and Sano walked up. Chiri kneeled next to Kenshin, and let his healing magic flow through the other bishonen, and Anya watched as the bruises faded from Kenshin's face and body. Soon, the bishonen's eyes had opened, and he groggily sat up.  
"That was a good fight. Did he come through that last attack, or did we draw?"  
Anya smiled slightly at her bishonen.  
"Sorry Kenshin, but you lost. He was conscious. Barely, but conscious."  
"It was a draw."  
Anya, Sano, and Kenshin turned in surprise to see Crono, Ryu supporting the bishonen so he could walk.  
"What do you mean a draw? You won."  
Crono shook his head, and held up his right hand, displaying his sword. Anya blinked in surprise seeing that the blade had been broken, the last three inches missing. She glanced behind Kenshin, and saw the tip of the sword lying on the ground. Anya opened her mouth to argue, but Kenshin beat her too it.  
"Maybe so. But I was knocked unconscious, while you still have a fighting weapon, albeit broken. You won."  
The two bishonen got into a slight staring contest, trying to convince the other that they had won. After a moment, she looked at Ryu, who shrugged.  
"It was Crono's fight. I'll let him decide weather or not he won."  
Sano scoffed, and stood up, glaring at Crono.  
"You still have a weapon, and were conscious, while Kenshin was not conscious. If it had been a true fight, you would've been able to drag yourself over to Kenshin and kill him before he came around. Stop trying to be noble and accept the fact that you won damn it."  
Ryu nodded in agreement, and Crono finally relented. Anya grinned and stood up, handing Ryu the money that she had bet on the match. Chiri also stood, walked over to Crono, and healed him. Crono's eyes widened in surprise as he stood up as if he had never fought. Ryu frowned a little, then handed back an amount of cash to Anya which she saw was what would've paid for a healing potion. She looked up to see Ryu and his bishonen walking away, Crono examining his broken sword.  
Anya frowned and was about to go hand it back when Sano stopped her.  
"Just keep it Missy. I recognize the type. He doesn't like being indebted to anyone, and he won't take the money back."  
She grinned.  
"Ah, I can see it now. Sanosuke, the world-wise fluffy rooster."  
"Ite! Missy...!"  
She laughed as she ducked under his playful attack.  
  
:Author's Notes: So, what'd you think? Good, bad? Please review so I can know, and change accordingly. Oh yeah, about the 'battou stance'. It's been too long since I've seen Kenshin, and I can't remember exactly what they call the stances he uses. And Kenshin's not saying 'that I do' and what not because he's in san stage, or Battousai stage, and when he's like that, I believe he speaks as a normal person would. But I could be wrong. 


End file.
